They Set out to Save Worlds
by KitKat Roar
Summary: The Cullen Coven are desperate to rescue Carlisle from the influence of the dangerous humans, unaware how far gone the once good Carlisle Cullen is. The wolf pack find themselves trapped in an malevolent town at the mercy of werewolves. Old bonds that were broken are rekindle, and love blossoms in the backdrop of an oncoming apocalypse. 3rd book in They Set Out series.
1. A Toast to Life

**A TOAST TO LIFE**

Xx~xx~xX

"I think being a _Quileute _just ruined the whole rollercoaster experience for me"  
>"Clearwater..." he warned, sighing heavily and rolling his eyes. She had been at this for the duration of their time in the slow moving in the queue for the ride. Grumbling, whining and complaining.<p>

"I mean seriously...!"She pointed with unnecessary energy up at the ride and scowled at it as it twisted and curved at high velocity, causing its passengers to scream in terror. "Why are people so interested in this thing!?"  
>"Lady, could you move?" a low irate voice breathed from behind them. They both ignored it and shuffled lethargically forward, sure to leave a good few steps in front of them so there was a marginal space between them and the two other members of their party "Could you move some more?" the man sighed.<p>

"Why would anyone want to have goofy pictures taken of them?" Leah carried on, shaking her head in reproach.

"Lady, just get out of the line if you're scared..." the man behind them sneered "And let us, who paid good money for this, get to the damned ride!"  
>"Shut up until after the ride" Charles nudged Leah out of the way gently and peered into the man's eyes, pierced into his mind. The man was lost in the dark emerald eyes, his heart stuttered minutely before returning to a slightly raised tempo and when Charles had returned Leah to her position in front of the man...<p>

The man blinked in confusion. He knew he wanted to say something, _anything_ to the tall dark woman who had been complaining insistently during the thirty minutes they had been queued. He opened his mouth but then saw the man she was with; the handsome man with the peculiarly _violent_ green eyes, and he shut up. His mouth slammed shut and a sweat trickled down his neck as though the very thought of speaking was a strenuous activity.

"That was unnecessary, Charles" Leah sighed.

"You ask me what I want to do for my birthday, and when I decide that an amusement park would be fun..." Charles said morosely "You complain the whole way. You complained at the Tea Cups, you complained at the shooting range..."  
>"I complain because this is what you <em>always<em> want to do!" Leah threw her hands in the air and frowned at Charles "Because I knew this is where we were heading, to the _damned_ rollercoaster...!"  
>"You puked on the ride we went to when I was ten..." Charles smiled "I told no one. If you puke now, I promise to only tell Jacob..."<p>

Her eyes were wide and fearful on his face. "You... _wouldn't_"  
>"He has been so serious of late..." Charles said airily, watching Leah from the corner of his eye. "Always discussing things with Atka; obsessed with other shape shifters. Maybe he'll obsess about the curious incident of a <em>wolf <em>puking because of high velocity when she's the fastest thing on the land"  
>"If you tell Jacob... about..."<br>"So you do confirm that you will be puking all over the place again..." Charles grinned "Oh fearsome she-wolf?"

"I will not be puking anywhere!" Leah snapped "Back then, things were different"  
>"Different how?"<br>"I had taken a blunt" Leah said matter of fact, nodding her head as though that was a righteous enough reason and would be held with honour in any court.

"You are a wolf..." Charles smirked and raised a thick eyebrow. "One little blunt will only levitate you what... a foot off the ground?"

"Did I say blunt? I meant a whole _garden_" Leah corrected herself. "I was exiting the stratosphere..."

"I don't know how Renesme will feel knowing she left you in the care of her _only_ child while you were high..."  
>"Higher than a <em>motherfucker<em>" Leah grinned toothily "And drunk as hell but you _still _had the best birthday now, didn't you?"  
>"Why did you need get high?"<br>"Your mother and father" she answered. "Those two could make the Pope crave for a shot of _something_, the way they behaved back then..."

"Like that's changed much now!" Charles scoffed, folding his hands over his chest.

"Renesme is nice" came a little voice in front of Charles.

"Katherine, Renesme craps too" Leah pointed out.

"Actually..." Charles murmured and Leah blanched. "Once in a while"

"I don't know if the information on a hybrid's bowl movement shocks me more..." Leah gasped "Or that you count the number of times your mother poops"  
>"You got high and put your imprint in danger" Charles breathed. "You don't get to judge anyone today"<p>

"What's an imprint?" Katherine asked and the man in front of Charles growled low.

"Could you two shut it?" Seth hissed. "This is the worst..."  
>"Double date?" Charles grinned, his sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight dangerously.<p>

"There is no double date going on here" Seth said, looking behind Charles. "And Leah's thumbs up tells me she agrees fully"  
>"She's just scared she'll puke on me again" Charles chuckled. "Aren't you Leah?"<br>"If you keep on with the puking jokes, I might be forced to tell Eddie you're using your powers for evil"  
>"What evil?" Charles asked innocently and Leah pointed behind her, at the silent man trying to nudge her forward after the section with two and a half Quileute's and a werewolf did not move forward and left a considerable gap in the queue.<p>

"Dude?" Charles sighed at the man. "You're ruining my birthday?"

The man pointed at two children bickering at his sides, and shrugged, before pointing at his throat and shaking his head in wonder.

"Kids, could you give your old man a break?" Charles chided and the children looked up at him in wonder, before resuming their squabble. "You were rude to my imprint" Charles told the man. "You don't get to talk until after the ride"

"Do you have any understanding of _discretion_" Leah sighed. "You might as well wear a t-shirt that says, 'I'm a weird human hybrid vampire wolf thingy who has lost my compassion for other humans'"

"Humans and their humanity are both _overrated_" Charles began before frowning "Did you just call me a _thingy_ Lee? You ruined my birthday, Clearwater. Seth, your sister ruined my birthday"  
>"I don't <em>fucking <em>care!" Seth hissed into Charles ear. "If you haven't noticed, I am trying to get to know my imprint... who still thinks I'm a jerk!"

"All you Clearwater's are jerks" Charles sulked, inching forward with the queue. "Leah refused to give me a kiss for my birthday, grumbled the duration of my special day at the amusement park and revealed that she used to get high and drunk in my presence..."

"I am finding it very difficult to sympathize!" Seth hissed at Charles before groaning, and helping Katherine into the ride (after shoving the attendee far right and growling at him).

"No" Leah said before Charles could speak, helping herself into the stall behind Seth and Katherine. She strapped her belt on and gripped the rail in front of her with firm conviction.

"I have never been drunk or done half the stuff you guys have" Charles grumbled, checking if Leah's belt was secure before strapping himself in.

"Venom" Leah stated and Charles rolled his eyes. "Can't get higher than that"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**RENESME CULLEN**

The lilting sound of birds, far away laughter of children and the lethargic pull of the ocean gave a heavenly retreat from a bruising war, a powerful enchantment from a dark memory and for some, a reprieve from a life of damning.

"You don't have to spend your time baking, Renesme..."  
>Angela wouldn't understand the change that was in me. Angela wouldn't know the light that had pierced the darkness, the power that had overthrown my weaknesses. I was free. Finally, and truly...<p>

I was free of my sins, of sins that were not my own... except of course, this one little thing. The thirst...

It reminded me explicitly of my first kills, my first murders and my first _taste._ I had to bake, I had to clean and I had to be busy... I had to _not_ be still, listening to heart beats, feeling the heat from their bodies, his body... smelling the salt of sweat, the sweetness of blood, the elixir in _his_ veins, yearning for scorching heat to sear my tongue, wishing to listen to the that drumming instrument playing a tune of divinity, hating that I remembered the sweet power I had stolen from so many men, from the laboratory.

Every kill, every murder, all that blood...

It reminded me of my first taste, and it did no justice to the potency of Jacob Black's blood.

"Renesme!" Angela yelled.

I jumped, knocking back into the kitchen table and breaking it in the process. The cupcakes I had been icing went into the air and I watched them as they hit the ceiling in slow motion and thundered right back down to the floor.

"Shit" I breathed. I didn't look at Angela; my heart was fluttering wildly in my chest, my vision blaring, her heart was raised too and with it, my thirst roared and my nostrils flared. I was grateful for the burning smell coming out of the oven, muting her adrenaline laced blood.

"What has gotten into you?!" Angela demanded, walking over to me. She took the empty tray from my hands-tugging hard-and placed it on the chair. She surveyed the broken table, it leaned awkwardly to the left, were its leg had come off.

"Renesme, why are you so distracted?" she asked softly, touching my arm. My eyes snapped to her hand, glared at the contact and yearned for the warmth pulsating from her skin.

"What's going on?" Jacob swaggered in, frowning. He was sure not to look at me, staring at the ruined cupcakes on the floor instead. "Five second rule but if you are a wolf it really is five hours, so ladies... just pick them up so we can get to the meeting sometime in this century?"

"Yes" I rasped, removing the apron hastily, throwing it on the broken table. "Angela, the meeting..."

"The muffins are still burning" Angela said dryly, looking at me suspiciously. I switched the oven off, deciding to open it much later when the supernatural beings had gone to the beach to organise Charles surprise party... they would hate to have their noses aggravated.

"Could you take it easy, you haven't slept since..."Angela whispered.

She droned out, frowning "I haven't seen you sleep at all since the break out?"  
>"I can function" I snapped.<p>

"Then what are you doing to yourself...?" she began but I opted to run from her, zooming to the other side of the dining room that was operating as our 'board room', or as Katherine had put it 'bored room'. She frowned at me by the door, allowing Embry to lead her in and sat down, still throwing me suspicious glances.

The room felt like a sauna with all the wolves. I sat by the window sill, opening the window wide and inhaling the outside.

"I have contacted Dominic" Jacob announced. He sat at the head of the dining table, his large hands clasped in front of him. "He has arrived in Malwood and he will relay the details of The Company and God's People to his elders, and we will see if they are willing to assist us in any way possible"

"Was our biggest concern not finding a place to roost before we mobilise to England?" Embry asked.

"Why can't the Cullens make their way to Malwood?" Angela asked. "England seems so... small... for all of you"

"Malwood is a community of werewolves" Embry said "We would be putting the Cullens at such a risk"  
>"Embry is right" Jacob said slowly "And I think our cause would be better heard without vampires. Do not forget that the reasons why other supernatural beings hide, Angela, is because vampires attempt to wipe them out"<p>

"My family will not be sitting pretty in England" I murmured, looking out to the little garden. I knew they would be watching me, Maria too. "I believe they are considering involving the Volturi"

"Involving the Volturi?" Angela scoffed "Were the Volturi not _already_ involvedas it is?"  
>"Your suspicions are warranted, the Volturi are exceptionally undependable if their help will result in their defences becoming susceptible to threats" I spoke slowly "But understand... the humans are not operating alone and as much as Aro may <em>think<em> he had them fooled, it is the other way around. Vampires, werewolves... and any other supernatural creatures Jacob thinks may be in hiding..."

"Don't start with me" Jacob warned.

I ignored it fluidly, looking at the table filled with shape shifters "We are all at risk. The level of organisation, weaponry and unwavering devotion that Lorraine has in her... imagine it spread out amongst a _thousand_ humans. We will be wiped out. It's as simple as that"

"We... need... the Volturi?" Jacob tried the words. I could see him in my peripheral frowning, as though the notion of it was causing him to want to hurl. It probably was.

"We need the Volturi" I said and then clarified. "Of course, if your mission to help supernatural beings is _including_ vampires?"

"I guess..." he said in a hollow tone. "We need to find out more if there are more of you?" he waved his hand at me, mildly petulant.

"Imagine how many 'Maria's' could be littered all over the world?" I whispered "Dangerous. Isolated. Entirely vulnerable to this... _extraction _process The Company coordinates? Joham may be the only known vampire to father half vampires..."  
>"Edward" Collin said airily.<p>

"Joham?" Maria asked. "Is that my biological...father?"  
>"Your biological grandfather" I said.<p>

"It's up to us, isn't it... to find other part vampires?" Maria asked. She was unusual, she was human, she was full of empathy-she was everything I wished I could have been in my youth. I tried to console myself to the fact that she had been allowed to grow up, to have a human family, to have human years...

"It is up to you, Maria" Jacob answered and I watched as Maria's eyes widened, her full lips parting slightly. When Jacob looked at her and smiled-no doubt approving her naive heroicness-her heart beat picked up pace just the slightest bit. I wandered if her palms were sweaty...

I wanted to flip her hand over, feel the skin there... She returned her gaze to me and I smoothed over my frown.

"It's not as easy as Jacob so immaturely makes it out" I smiled.

"I think if you find other half breeds..." Embry stopped talking abruptly as Maria let out a slew of fervent coughs.

"Half vampires" she said "Or bi-species, please"

Both Embry and Jacob looked at her in disbelief... this would be the moment they burst out laughing at Mother Teresa in all her _natural _seventeen years of age-that showed mentally, physically but _not_ emotionally (oh, she was centuries ahead in the emotion department).

"I am _so_ sorry" Jacob didn't laugh and Embry continued to look at her with wide eyes, shame spreading over his features. "That would be like how the leech... I mean _vampires_, call us dogs" he pointed at himself and then at Embry. "Bi-species... yes"

"But you aren't bi-species" Embry said "You have what, barely there vampire genes in you?"  
>"It doesn't make her any less vulnerable to the humans" I said slowly, now watching Maria with that annoying green tinge in my heart "She is probably fertile and both the humans and Joham have a fascination with genetics"<br>"I thought the only male was Nahuel?" Jacob asked.

"That we know off" I said slowly and then, deliberately to Maria I whispered "Your grandfather has no aversions to incest... I should warn you" 

She had turned into a saint in an oversized sweater and dirty sneakers that could give birth to more saints, in the blink of an eye. I could see them looking at her, in wonder. She was young, truly and naturally young and sacrificing her life for this... for out of everyone, she would be most likely to merge in with society freely. She had no baggage save for her war wounds.

"Do you want something to eat Maria?" I smiled at her "I made cinnamon buns..."

"You mean you _burnt_ cinnamon buns" Jacob grumbled before saying wistfully "Esme never burnt them..."  
>"I am not Esme so be grateful for what I can do!" the windows shook, the wolves cringed back and as I made eye contact with him and his eyes widened, his slight fear shocked my own anger into retreat. I looked away quickly, searching for the warm smile once more.<p>

"I am sure they are like your grandmothers" Maria smiled nervously and I made an effort to ignore Jacob's 'if cinnamon buns were coal'. "I am... tired" Maria sighed.  
>"Yes, what with your being human and all" I smiled "Angela, are you..."<br>"I am not tired and yet still _intolerably_ human, Renesme" she snapped.

Maria followed me then, waving shortly to everyone before stumbling so perfectly human over the carpet. I caught her easily "Careful" I said "No injured soldiers"  
>"Thanks, Renesme" she smiled "I just don't have the stamina for their never ending strategizing and all the security protocols Leah and Seth have put over everyone..."<br>"Imprinters" I explained "They tend to fuss over all of that when their imprints are in the vicinity"  
>"Imprinters?"<p>

"Oh, poor daisy..." I gave her a quick side hug, careful not to shatter her ribcage "There is so much you don't know"

"Yeah..." she chuckled nervously, sitting on the stool while I took the cinnamon buns out of the oven. They were not badly burnt, unfortunately. I had a feeling she would have eaten them regardless, had they been charred to oblivion "Everyone here is... bonded. Like, a lifetime of this..." she waved her hand in the air "I could never have imagined there could be such a world"  
>"You were perfectly sheltered" I told her "I <em>envy<em> you"  
>"You envy me?" she scoffed "I envy you! Imagine growing up in a house with humans, Renesme, and thinking you <em>were<em> human when you could feel it in your bones that you were something other..."  
>"But you are human" I explained to her "Perfectly human, Maria"<p>

"No... I am not" she whispered, pinching a piece off from the cinnamon bun and plopping it in her mouth indelicately "Rene..." I hated that I liked the new nickname "...even before I was abducted, I knew there was something wrong with me"  
>"Why does it have to be something wrong?" I asked her "It makes you superior to humans... even if it's by a <em>miserable<em> quarter. At least, you could put up a bit of a fight before you were killed by a vampire?"  
>She blinked at me, a sliver of terror flashing over her eyes.<p>

"You are a little scary" she said.

"I am a lot vampire" I smiled. "Do you want some tea with that?"

She looked behind her, to the boisterous sound of the shape shifters welcoming the birthday boy from his mundane excursion before sighing a little "Yeah, tea would be good"  
>"You miss your home?" I guessed.<p>

"You see, that's where you have it lucky" she murmured, eating more of the cinnamon bun "You get to keep your family. I get to lose mine for this"

"Those humans were not your family" I told her.

"As far as I care, they are..."  
>"Aren't you the least bit curious on whom it is that you belong to?"<br>"I belong to no one right now, and that's just fine by me"

"Spoken like a teenager" I smiled.

"I am a teenager" she smiled back. "Thanks" she took the cup I had placed out, and balanced it carefully as she picked up her cinnamon bun "I'm going to call it a day"  
>"Going to bed so early?" I asked her. "It's five?"<p>

"Just a nap but honestly..." she whispered "I hate this. I hate it all, and I am trying to deal and be mature about it, I mean that's how my father would have handled things... but all I wake up and want to do is go to school and hang out with my friends... not save the world"

She paused and a tear slid down her brown cheek.

"Does that make me selfish?" she asked softly.

"It makes you human" I smiled and it hurt inside, because I had been her once I realised "It makes you... normal"

"Goodnight, Renesme"  
>"Don't you mean good evening?" I smiled back. "The night is only just beginning"<p>

Xx~xx~xX

"What is it with you and house chores?" she complained, stuffing herself with the salvaged buns and scones, while sipping her wine endlessly.

"It's just something I learnt from Esme" I murmured "It's therapeutic"  
>"Your grandmother was a vampire" Angela said.<p>

"My grandmother was a caring and patient woman" I whispered "That is how she did it. Not because she had limitless energy and no need for sleep. She cared that everyone was taken care off... she took care of Jacob, when I left"  
>"When you left?" Angela asked, the bun hovering expectantly over her open mouth.<p>

"Back then" I whispered, sipping the wine before swirling it gently in the glass. The satin colour stained the bulb of the wine glass exquisitely and my throat burnt. "I broke him into a thousand pieces" I took another sip and this time my throat swore at me, cussed me out for denying it the genuine wine. I looked at Angela and watched as the precious vein by her neck throbbed and retreated succinctly before erupting again, and again...

I looked away and glared at the calm outside, the rose bush Leah and Charles had planted earlier on in the day partially hidden in the shadow of a tree "He would have starved himself if it were not for Esme and Rosalie"

"Rosalie?" Angela asked.

"You haven't met her... formally" I said.

"I met her in high school" Angela had finished her wine and waved the glass at me impatiently. I moved humanly slow towards her, watching her in fascination. She had been intent on eating herself into her grave since we escaped, as well as her new fondness for ciders and wine.

"How was she then?"

"Beautiful... scary" Angela said raising her hand for me to stop pouring the wine when her glass was a quarter full.

"Rose, the eternal beauty" I raised my own glass in a toast "My _true_ mother"

"You're tipsy" Angela chuckled, shaking her head.  
>"You are drunk"<br>"I function"  
>"It bothers me that you say that so proudly" I sighed.<p>

"It bothers me how nice you are to Maria when you and I both know you can't stand her" Angela laughed. I was glad we were alone; the whole house-except Maria-had gone to the beach to prepare the bonfire and a little party for Charles.

She continued laughing until tears were in her eyes. She was laughing at me, her face red and flushed... such a waste... of blood, in the hilarity of my insecurities...

The wine glass smashed in my hand, the red liquid spilling over my fingers, spraying over the counter and dripping to the floor through my clenched fist. She stopped then, looking at me in puzzlement but long gone was Angela Weber's fear of me. She knew I would never hurt her; not because my father had grown attached to her...

But it was I, instead, that found her compelling. She compelled all she touched, with her raw kindness and lack of consideration in reigning in her wayward disposition. It was as though the moment she was free from Isabella, she had begun to live fully and ripened in her old age of forty something...

"Wipe it before it stains then" was all Angela Weber had to say of my exhibition, taking her glass of wine with her and swaying out of the kitchen in the direction of the patio "One must learn to handle a bit of competition..."

"Competition for what?" I scoffed, folding my arms over my chest and glaring at the shards. I caught my reflection in them; paler than I should be in the sunshine of our new location, eyes wide and deadly dark. What could I want from Jacob, which he hadn't given already?

_A taste..._

Xx~xx~xX

The fire had only just begun to blaze. It was an orange ruby in the middle of the sand, its flames guttering upwards violently. Around it, the men sat chatting animatedly.

She didn't really want to go there, she didn't really want to be seen, she didn't really want to be left out either as much as she thought that she could return, one day, back to her high school and back to her simple life as a teenager.

"You can sit by me" I told her.

"It's not that I am shy..." Maria tried to explain although her heart clutched in her chest when the wolves gave her too much attention. Angela had told her not to be too concerned about that; they were forever stuck as teenagers and had very little female interaction save for Leah (who wasn't an easy target for teasing) and I... well, they had written me into the legends as the _witch, _hadn't they? They were excited to have someone pretty to talk to, was how Angela had put it. That may have been true...

"They are perpetually horny and will follow a female turtle into the depths of the ocean" was how I had put it "Nothing to get yourself all worked up about, Maria"

"I am not shy..." Maria clarified yet again "I just... don't like attention"

"Everyone wants a little bit of attention?" I smiled. I was leading Maria and Angela to the beach, the twilight had abated, the darkness had swallowed up the wood area and the surrounding perimeter of the little beach house.

"I have a boyfriend" Maria said primly, pursing her lips and glaring at Collin's not so subtle wink at her. She raised the grape juice indicatively, a little reminder that she was not going to be joining their planned night of drunkenness. She saw his expression darken and sighed when he resumed his conversation with the rest of his pack mates.

"Well... he isn't here to give you attention, now is he?" I teased.

"I wouldn't take romantic advice from her" a very drunk Angela laughed. "Although, it is true that a little bit of attention can do wonders for one's self confidence"

"I love him" Maria stated but something in her tone sounded two shades bitter.

"Love my dear..." I scowled at Jacob and Atka from far off "Is overrated. When you return to him and tell him that you are not human, were do you think your love will be then?"  
>"I <em>am<em> human"

"Humanish" Angela raised her finger in correction.

"You are undying" I said sternly "Forget about your human love. It is brief, fickle and infantile. It will stunt your immortal growth; it will offer you no protection from this world and provide nothing but disappointment"

"Do you have a mate?" Maria asked me. I released her hand then, as we had arrived by the bonfire and walked ahead, before throwing an irate "Your _father_" at her.

"She can be rather cruel" Maria whispered to Angela, still refusing to acknowledge that her audio world had changed and I could hear her clearly.

"It's only because she loves intensely" Angela laughed, squeezing Maria briefly. "It's a difficult love to earn... but it's worth it in the end. She's a special girl, like you, even if you both don't know it"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"I do miss Dominic and Annabelle" Collin sighed "They added..."  
>"Numbers" Bradley scoffed. "Dude, Dominic was hard work and Annabelle had two expressions; constipated and death..."<p>

"Dominic was only hard work once a month!" Katherine cried, leaning away from Seth. "And Annabelle... er, she... had that humour of hers?"

"A constipated dead cynic" Bradley said dryly "What's not to miss? And if Dominic wasn't a werewolf... he had those large eyes of his and that _curious _affliction..."

"What curious affliction...?" Katherine demanded, now clambering over Seth to get closer to Collin and Bradley's teasing.

"You know..." Bradley pointed at his own eyes indicatively and then not so subtlety, he pointed opposite them, behind the large fire at Leah. "His attachment to involved women"

"I suggest you speak a little nicer about the Eriksons" Seth hissed.

"Why?" Collin and Bradley challenged in unison, mischief glinting in their eyes. "Aren't you the slightest bit concerned that he will involve himself with another attached woman? Or maybe it will be Annabelle-those Erikson's may just like swimming in clear waters"

"A little respect for the Eriksons is in order because that's where we are heading before we go to England" Jacob announced. "Atka and I spoke with Dominic..."  
>"I think Jake replaced you" Bradley snorted at Seth.<p>

"Idiot, Atka is an Alpha of the Polar Bears" Seth rolled his eyes "He is representing his tribe in this, dumb ass"  
>"Dumb ass is the guy who bought grape juice instead of champagne for the party" Collin hissed at Seth.<p>

"I had to think about Katherine in this!" Seth hissed.

"I was hoping to get Maria a little tipsy for the event but she saw the damned grape juice..." Collin grumbled "Still a major cock blocker, eh Clearwater?"  
>"When did I cock block you?" Seth asked, covering Katherine's ears with his hands. She struggled to free her head of his large hands and settled herself to sulking at the fire.<p>

"You used to get laid like a duvet?" Bradley sneered "With _everyone..._ including that Katie, that cute waitress in Forks? I liked her...?"  
>"Quileutes and grudges!" Seth heaved, releasing Katherine and shaking his head "Dude that was last <em>lifetime<em>!"

"I am only forty" Bradley said soberly, his perfectly twenty year old face dead serious "My life time hasn't passed yet... so yes, it does feel like yesterday"  
>"...Malwood is well organised" Jacob was giving a speech that the left side of the bonfire cared little for "We will be safe, Dominic swore to it. Although our stay will not be welcome..."<br>"When has our stay ever been welcome" Leah scoffed "Hopefully this time Embry wont sleep with anyone's sister..."  
>"Er..." Embry avoided Atka's glare and busied himself with Angela-who was giving a detailed account of Isabella's obsession with Edward, until the point that the two had become a couple (Renesme was sitting at the edge of that group, listening intently with a sleepy Maria at her side, gazing at everyone in wonder).<p>

"Okay, you know what... I could give you an 'Elder Speech'..." Jacob began and a series of 'Please Don'ts' erupted around the fire "But I can't, it reminds me of Billy..." a series of 'I feel bad now' rumbled out "And... really, we rescued _vampires_ from a _human_ laboratory? I think that's all the speech that is needed. We are legendary!" Jacob raised his bottle of whiskey "Happy Birthday Charles... may there be many..."  
>"Oh, there will be so many that the kid is going to wish for a <em>deathday<em>" Embry laughed.

Jacob grinned at his son, his friend "To an eternity of joy, Charles Edward Black"

Xx~xx~xX

"Hey!" he called out to her. She was skipping over the sand easily, a bottle of wine in her hand and her hair dark and wild around her face. He thought she was dancing, she thought she flying; to him, they had never been more on equal ground.

"Leah... you'll get yourself swept by the ocean" he rushed to her, picking her up in his arms and twirling her in the air. She giggled childishly as he planted kisses all around her face. They were far from the others, from their large family. It was like before, when they would travel through states just the two of them...

Except, it wasn't like before. They were on equal ground, as high as they were; maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the weed, maybe it was the fact that he had rid his system of venom and with her in his sights and life, he could see so clearly.

"Ahhh!" she squealed as he spun her supernaturally fast. "Throw me in, then!" she cried.

"What?"

"Throw me in the sea!" she demanded "Imagine were I will land... maybe in Atlantis!"

"You'll drown" he whispered, slowing his spinning. Her limbs lowered, her hands going around his neck. He propped her up in his arms, her legs automatically winding around his waist. "I can't lose you, Leah" he breathed, looking at her.

Her eyes were large and free, the light pulsing in them, through them.

"You won't" she said this with such natural ease that he had no grounds to refute her. She believed it, and it felt petty for him to deny it when she was so resolute.

"You could be taken from me" he said. Her hands were in his hair, combing and tugging lightly. He hadn't let her go; he hadn't let her feet touch the ground.

"Taken?" she giggled lightly, shaking her head "By whom?"

"Anyone" he said shyly "Any... thing?"

"You are my haven, Charles" she told him.

"You are my heaven" he told her gently, forcing her to come closer to him. He held her thigh, and she was aware of this through the haze of bliss, he used his other hand to push her hair away and see into her eyes much easier.

Green bore into her brown, through her fear and saw right into her soul. Something in her pulsed, it felt foreign and it scared her and then so suddenly, she remembered it. Lust. Want. Yearning.

"I can't..." she was about to say more and his crooked grin silenced her.

"We wouldn't do _that _while we were high, Ms Clearwater" he chuckled, his voice lowered and enchanting. "I would have to give you the world, all of them... to earn you. But for now, could I get that kiss?"

She giggled again and shook her head left and right, pouting "No"

"I have never seen you like this" he smiled.

"I have never been... like this" she said in wonder.

"You don't want with that kiss?"  
>"No"<p>

"Liar"  
>"I don't want with my lips..." she said sultrily and his eyes darted automatically to her full mouth.<p>

He kissed her quickly, lightly and the air knocked out of her. She leaned in to kiss him fully, so suddenly ravenous and he leaned back from her.

"I don't want with _my _lips" he told her cheekily.

"I don't give a damn!" she hissed, tugging his hair violently and crashing her mouth to his, winding her legs tighter around his waist and rocking her body forward. She gripped his hair mercilessly, she kissed him with undying passion and they tasted sweet nectar in each other.

"Ah...!" he tried to tug her away, feeling their hold on reality slipping dangerous territories that he knew they were not ready for but she was adamant, stubborn and strangely immature. She refused his restrictions, when he lowered her to the ground she stalked him dangerously and he backed away anxiously.

"I... want... you!" she breathed, she never remembered being this famished for warmth and love.

"Want me when you're sober" he chuckled, catching her in his arms and placing a deliberate kiss on her forehead , using more strength to keep her from causing him to throw his resolve to the ocean and just... be a _silly_ teenage boy, drunk out of his mind, and happily alone with the woman of his dreams.

She meant too much, she was everything and this, would not satisfy that sacredness at all.

"Charles?" she breathed, but he was gone. The only tell of his departure came from the sea, were a disturbance had occurred. She looked out to the darkness, catching his pale form in the waters and thought to swim to him and just throw all her fears, doubts and stupid morals away.

But the cold air hit her face and she realised that she had _just_ kissed him, she had wanted him; she had felt him want her to. He waved at her and she was sure she could see the smile on his face "See you at the house, Ms Clearwater" his lips moved.

She smiled, suddenly incredibly shy and waved at him. She walked back to the house, and sat silently in a corner with another bottle of wine... and a silly grin on her lips.

Xx~xx~xX

X

x

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**Welcome, to They Set Out to Save Worlds!**

**What to look forward to? Well, once again our heroes have split into two groups; so there will be two factions playing out in the story until they are united. Romance wise, yesssss! Plenty of it, I predict.**

**Things will be a little heated for a bit while everyone sets out to save the world... hehe,**

**See you soon.**

**XX**

**TJ**

**P.S Don't forget to review!**


	2. Methods of Defence

**METHODS OF DEFENCE**

Xx~xx~xX

The rain fell lazily through the leaves. Its drops pooled into the cocooned centre of the larger flowers, little ponds of clearness in the dips of each leaf. He stopped his hacking of the tree, closing his eyes and looking up to the green heavens. The rain misted through the trees and fell gently on his face, cool moisture on his eyelids. He sighed into the clear air, smiling slightly.

"I don't ever want to go back to the city" John whispered.

His brother looked at him from beneath a tree, deep in its shadows. His eyes were narrowed, his lips too; the axe held firmly in hand, his fingers tensing and releasing sporadically.

"I can't believe I didn't realise how lucky we are" John whispered, his eyes still closed. He was in heaven; he was far from hell; far from the memories of the city, the pollution and the transgressions. His brother watched him silently; he hadn't moved nor removed his eyes from John. His thoughts hidden in the shade of the tree, hidden in the shadows of his face.

"We are lucky, Peter!" John cried, opening his eyes and staring lovingly at the ceiling of light and emerald. He twirled in a circle, his arms extended outwards and a lax smile on his lips. "There is no wealth in any city or above, that is greater than this... this, which we are given by God!"

"I wouldn't know" Peter said. His voice cut through the falling rain effortlessly. "You never did share that wealth with us, dear brother?"  
>"Huh?" he dropped his arms and searched for his brother in the trees and shade, and saw him standing motionless in the shadows right by the tree he had cut down. "Peter... trust me, it was not wonderful"<br>"That wasn't what you said in the first year of your disappearance" Peter's voice was calm, levelled. He strapped his axe to his back, tying the rope securely before hefting the dead wet tree up. "We have to go back" he told his brother stiffly. "We have travelled far enough, wouldn't you say? This rain is calm now but if we let it... it will wash us away"

John's bliss drowned in the showers then, the childlike smile long gone and he strapped his own axe to his back, tying the rope too tightly and inexperienced before groaning as he picked the tree up, hefting it to his shoulders.

"I am sorry I left you" John told his brother, following Peter's footsteps diligently through the undergrowth. He didn't trust his own feet, they were wayward and would sooner trample a poisonous snake if he gave them liberty.

"I am sorry too" Peter breathed, keeping a relentless pace back to their home and mother, to their little village in the feral South American jungle; so far from civilisation and lost in the darkness. Their neighbours were wild and only recently averse to cannibalism, their livestock susceptible to the beasts of the jungle. This wasn't heaven, not to Peter "I am sorry you didn't take me, brother"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Mrs Downey had been a regular at the coffee shop for a _very_ long time, years that spanned well over a decade and events that were both bitter and sweet. She had lived in the town, moved to New York as a young woman, and moved back when the years of her life had begun to dwindle into emptiness.

She had no children, she had had a husband (she had married a man who had loved her dearly since childhood, the moment she had arrived back into her hometown from New York) and she had had a lovely mane of auburn hair once.

It was this that had had made her pause her slow sipping of her tea, ignoring the crossword in her magazine as her heart clutched in her chest. All she could see was the hair, the _lovely_ auburn hair that reminded her so painfully of the youth she had squandered in New York.

The girl turned left gracefully, her hair spanning with the movement. It had curls, unlike Mrs Downey's long lost mane and it shimmered radiantly in the fluorescent light. The girl was tall, beautiful and miserable looking. She held a coffee cup in her hands, the steam smoking upwards from the hot liquid, and covering half her face in an ethereal haze.

From behind her, a tall man walked in. He was terrifying, roguish and dark. Two curtains of long black hair framed his face and beneath his shirt, muscles rolled and uncoiled. He whispered to the girl and her expression intensified into unhappiness, the cup seemed to strain against her grip.

"Oh my!" Mrs Downey breathed, placing her pen and cup down and closing her magazine. She removed her hat, ran her fingers through her mid length greying hair as she stared in envy at the metallic silk of the girl. "Wondrous" she breathed. She called the waitress, a new girl that she didn't care for much except the curious clumsiness the girl possessed.

"Katherine!" Mrs Downey called. The girl jumped lightly, her tray shaking minutely but today, nothing fell from it. Katherine turned around slowly, holding the tray out as though it were a bomb and moved slowly to Mrs Downey's table "Katherine dear... do you know who those people are?"

"Them?" Katherine looked back at the two people in question, who were having a vicious whispered feud in the bakery line. "That's my sister... and that's Jacob"

"Your sister?" Mrs Downey raised her tea cup to her lips, sipping slowly while watching Katherine from above the rim of her spectacles. She put the cup back down slowly, taking her magazine and resumed her crossword with exaggerated nonchalance "You look nothing alike dear"  
>"She got all the beauty" Katherine laughed nervously. "Do you need anything, Mrs Downey?"<br>"Hmm" Mrs Downey sighed "No, I suppose I don't"

She watched Katherine walk away, she watched Katherine say something to the two tensed youngsters, and she met the beautiful girl's eyes briefly and knew that Katherine had told them of her inquisitiveness. The man walked out, a fluidity that defied his massive presence and the girl... walked over to Mrs Downey's table slowly.

She reached the table, placing a long finger on the tip of the chair opposite Mrs Downey. Mrs Downey ignored the girl, immersing her body into the crossword while her mind tensed with anticipation.

"Good afternoon" the girl said. "Are you Mrs Downey?"  
>She looked up slowly, readjusting her glasses before giving the girl a little smile "I am"<br>"Downey was your late husband's last name?" the girl asked.

"Now how would you know that?" Mrs Downey laughed.

"I did a bit of ballet in my youth" the girl pulled the chair out and sat down, placing her coffee on the table slowly. It was still full, but the steam had long abated. "I saw that you taught ballet at the school in Chemsworth? Your picture is there... with your name"

"For a brief time I had been Ms Diane Lorde" Mrs Downey said proudly "But it lasted a month before I was married"

There was no trace of bitterness in her tone, although the pride had vanished with the latter statement.

"Had your whole family lived here?" she asked, smiling. It was a small smile, a sad one. Her dark eyes had shadows of anxiety dancing in them.

"Mostly..." Diane said. "They had come from Chicago. Well, my grandfather at any rate. His family were wiped out by illness there, long back"

"My name is Rene" the girl reached out her hand and Diane took it willingly, shaking it once. "My family has roots in Chicago too. You see my interest? A fellow Ballerina with a similar life as my own?"  
>"I doubt you had the life I had" Diane laughed "When I was your age... I had been talented and wild. Lost in a big city, enchanted by the company I worked for and driven to misery by the life I had once wanted so badly" Diane finished softly. "Yes, I doubt you have the life I had"<p>

"Possibly" Rene smiled before turning stiffly, her eyes glued to the entrance. Diane followed her gaze and watched, after a second, as the burly dark man walked in again. He scowled at the front till where Rene wasn't there, his eyes glazing over the whole shop before they fell upon her finally. His scowl etched further, he was terrifying.

"Is he your boyfriend, Rene?" Diane asked.

"No" Rene said frigidly, touching her coffee cup before frowning at it. "My coffee has gone cold"

"Katherine, dear...!" Diane called and Katherine walked brusquely to the table. "Do you mind bringing Rene a fresh cup of coffee?"  
>"Yes...sure" Katherine stammered before lowering her head to Rene's ear and whispering something rapidly. Of course, Ms Downey wouldn't hear it no matter how intently she had been listening in. Rene's expression was controlled even after Katherine had left their table and soon, the big man had arrived.<p>

He pulled the chair out, and sat down with the same fluidity that defied his expansive presence. "Hello" he greeted Diane. She smiled tersely at him, already presumptuous of his relationship with Rene (whom she had grown to like incredibly, in the few minutes they had been talking).

"This is Jacob" Rene introduced. "He thinks it's a bad thing for me to talk to you"

"Now why would that be a bad thing?" Diane laughed. "I am hardly harmful to anyone..."

"The harm won't come from you" Jacob said stiffly, before exiting from their table just as quickly as he had arrived "_Rene_... we will discuss this at home"  
>"Yes, Alpha..." Rene said with mastered austerity, glaring at Jacob as he left the coffee shop.<p>

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"Are you going to pretend it didn't happen?" Charles asked. He wasn't upset or disappointed; he had expected this from Leah. She hated things that she wasn't in control of... even if she had been the one to reach for more.

But there was alcohol to blame, the word imprint to throw around and her own fear to clutch onto; as long as she had those things, she would put up a fight, no matter how incongruous her denial was.

"No" Leah frowned, cocking the gun and aiming it in front of her. She squinted her eyes, droning out Charles soft chuckle before firing. The bang from the weapon hurt both their ears, but hers were currently protected (not adequately), and they cringed from the sound. Charles face had turned red and eyes watered slightly.

"Let me have a go" he reached his hand out for the gun and she moved it to her left hand, away from him. "Let me have a go!" he insisted.

"You are all about the katana, have you forgotten?" Leah frowned, placing the gun on the table before taking out another larger piece of weaponry, dismantling it and cleaning it. He watched her silently, amused by her new methods of defence.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked her.

"Yeah" she didn't look at him "Leave..."

"So you can shoot?"  
>"Yeah"<p>

"So you can shoot the _target_, you mean" he laughed. "That bullet went off course" he pointed ahead. She wouldn't see as far as he could but she was certain she had hit what would have been a vital organ. Not by _perfection_ as he would have done it, but if the target man were human, he would have dropped to the ground and bled to death.

"Let me show you?" he reached his hand out.

"No" she tried not to pout.

"Fine" he sighed before leaning down, and whispering in her ear "If you don't want me to show you how straight I can shoot, that is just fine but it's a goddamn shame too..."

She shuddered, he kissed her cheek and then left her alone at the shooting range, frazzled and unfocused. He knew she could take care of herself just fine... for now, but soon she would need him and he would be ready.

He was ready.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

The lands were unattended to. A once manicured expanse of lawn grew wild and untamed, weeds choking the beauty out of it, trees thick with branches that hung precariously low, shrubbery untamed and various kinds of vegetation spreading out audaciously and with little respect to Carlisle Cullen's once grand estate.

There had been feral cats living in the house; a house that had survived the departure of its caretaker, the lack of attendance of its utility bills and the very weather, but with the arrival of pale human-like beings, the cats had decided to retreat into the garage. Not too far, as they were not nearly _that_ afraid to surrender a home that had passed through their generations over the past years, but with enough understanding that distance was needed if they were to have any more generations at all...

Emmett Cullen had taken it upon himself to feed them. It was a strange thing to most, but his wife knew that her husband had a naturally caring soul (albeit a ferocious one at that). It was his way of coping; the death of his mother, the abandonment of his father.

They were unwilling to be seen by him for those first few days of his efforts; the tuna was neither that appealing nor that plentiful that they would surrender the shadows and rafters to come near him.

But now, they ate by his feet.

"Nice kitty" he whispered, his cold fingers touching the head of one white cat carefully. He was bad at it, even though he had mastered most of his tactile capabilities but now, with the emotional fragments drifting in and out of his dead heart...

"Shit" its head bobbed into the milk abruptly. It yelped in shock, unharmed save for a face covered in white liquid. It gave him one righteously offended look before skipping back, not too far from him and cleaning itself up.

"Sorry" he sighed. "I am... sorry"

It continued to lick its paws, before running that paw over its face, ignoring him. He sighed. It seemed that was happening a lot; his being ignored. He was a soldier in this, always... the foot soldier. He touched his face, were a series of feint lines ran. He could feel the raise of each one, the depth of each etch.

He had once been unmarked. He had once been bored of peace, sick to his stomach of reining his strength in; wanting violence, wanting war and battle. He would give so much to just sit in a classroom, playing footsey with Rose and throwing grapes across a table at Edward's melancholic head.

"What are you doing in here?" Rose walked in slowly. The cats didn't retreat in the shadows, simply watching her carefully; it was her, after all, that had shown him how to win them over. They were not as fickle as humans and dogs, always watching and anticipating the worst from each other and other beings.

"Just..." he didn't have an answer "The cats" he said lamely.

She sat down by his side and touched the puddle of milk on the ground; she dug into it, the white mingling with the dirt until there was a muddy ridge. When she retracted her finger, its tip was stained with greyish brown, under her long nail filth sat comfortably.

"Snowy is a messy eater" Emmett lied, pointing at the white cat. As if it heard him, it raised its head and meowed unambiguously, before resuming its cleaning.

"Edward and Bella are at it again?" Emmett asked, taking his wife's hand and reaching over for a thin piece of wire. He turned her hand over, rubbing his finger and thumb gently over her dirtied finger and smudging the dirt off. He turned her hand over again, and carefully began to clean the dirt from under her nail with the wire.

"No and yes" Rosalie sighed. She watched him in silence, remembering a man who had never shown her this much... consideration. Emmett thought she was beauty, he thought she was kindness and love; he worshipped her... but she was _not_ his goddess. She was his equal. They were equals, and they cared for each other as that. He wasn't looking for anything from her; not a mate to show off, not a woman to simply care for his needs, not a device to keep him entertained and satiated... he had wanted her. He had cared for her, even when for a moment; she had thought his advances were _annoying..._

He had fought against her, to be with her.

She couldn't lose him in this wretched variance of the world, and maybe in this she understood Isabella. You remember, always, the ones who were kind to you. Those who cared for you sincerely.

"Isabella has the difficult task of rescuing a marriage that was long signed dead and gone" Rosalie sighed. "And Edward... well, he swapped his misery for anger so merrily. He says Carlisle chose to stay. He says our father died with Esme... and is now a true vampire. He says we should press forward and seek a counsel with Aro"

She paused, taking in a slow breath "He thinks Aro will find interest in Carlisle finally succumbing to vampirism, and with thus be willing to search for him"

"I know" Emmett sighed, kissing Rosalie's dainty finger before sucking it, cleaning it more thoroughly. "But what I don't get is why we can't just... disappear?"  
>"They won't stop" Rosalie stated. "We will never be safe, constantly hiding and living like this..." she looked around them indicatively; at the ceiling with its aligned rows of rafters, the cats' eyes glowing down at them, at the mouldy corners and stuffy materials littered around.<p>

"Always hiding in holes?" Rosalie said. "It is not us"  
>"Wishful thinking" Emmett muttered.<p>

"It's just us, Em" Rose whispered, kissing his cheek. "Us against the world"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"She is putting us _all_ at risk!" Jacob paced her bedroom; three strides to one wall, another three to the opposite and two diagonal and back before stopping in the centre.

She missed her family. She remembered the torture. She didn't know if she liked vampires, if she liked being part vampire at all and the knowledge that her father was Renesme's mate confused her thoroughly. Watching the wolves was always a good distraction; they were naturally happy-but just as keen to rage and anger as Jacob was illustrating in her room.

They were no longer at the beach house, sadly, and the town they were in was all kinds of boring and quiet. It was much better than the previous town they had once stayed in, Angela had told her; a town that had had half its population eaten and destroyed thanks to housing a family of supernatural beings.

"Renesme doesn't strike me as the type of person to just risk things" Maria said slowly "She is the one who organised the house?" Maria pointed out "She does the grocery, she does the cleaning..."  
>"She has put us at risk" Jacob growled, stopping abruptly and his dark eyes flashing dangerously.<p>

Maria silenced, twitching in the middle of her bed.

"I am sure this is not right" Jacob said "Searching out long lost families when you are supernatural?"  
>"You wouldn't do it?" Maria asked, thinking of her biological father... wondering on so much. She knew, unfortunately, that a large part of her would have wanted to find out the truth.<p>

"No" Jacob said unthinkingly. He paused, placing a finger on his chin "Well, most of my family is supernatural so that's different"  
>"And the human ones?" Maria asked.<p>

"There is a reason humans shouldn't know about us" Jacob said, much calmer. He sat at the edge of her bed and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his left hand. She liked Jacob, a lot. He was strong; he was kind and funny and knew when to be serious and when to goof off. She liked him and he was about the one good thing to come out of her ordeal, but there was something in his eyes that she couldn't understand and it scared her.

"Renesme seems very lonely" Maria said "Everyone doesn't like her"  
>"That's not true"<br>"You don't like her" Maria pointed out.

"That's..." Jacob looked away "Complicated. She doesn't make it easy, she is so..."  
>"Inhuman?" Maria laughed. "Maybe that's why she has the interest with the human relation. She is looking for something to anchor her..."<p>

"I can see it in her eyes and it bothers me that I know it" Jacob whispered, startling Maria when he looked at her intensely "With a vampire, you always know. Black eyes are a bad sign... but with hers, you know, they don't go black"  
>"They don't?"<p>

"Do yours?" Jacob asked.

"I don't... really... need to drink blood. At all" Maria said sheepishly.

"She does" Jacob said. "She _did" _he threw a newspaper on her lap. It was the town's paper and the headline read, 'Missing woman found, head severed'.

"That's a dangerous accusation!" Maria cried.

"That's why I _haven't_ accused her" Jacob said stiffly. "I have a hunch... and you sort of helped it. She is looking for an anchor, to her humanity because she lost it in that _place_. She orchestrated our reasons to be in this town, our reasons for needing this house..."  
>"Jake, come on" Maria whispered "That's murder you are accusing her of"<br>"She's a vampire" Jacob breathed. "She hasn't hunted; she hasn't so much as taken a sip of coffee... it's not murder, its feeding"

"There would be something here on bite marks or..."  
>"Body wasn't drained" Jacob explained "She wasn't in control, maybe it was an accident..."<br>"Don't say it so certainly... it's a hunch, an assumption" Maria said. He nodded impatiently, folding the newspaper.

"Don't tell anyone" Jacob said. "The guys... they don't like her and this wouldn't be good for her at all. I can keep a secret" he tapped the side of his head and grinned at her. Her heart clenched and released, spluttering slightly.

"Why have you told me?" Maria asked. He halted his exit, holding her door handle before tipping his head slightly.

"Welcome to the family" he chuckled. "Think of Renesme as the... problem child?"

"I thought Collin would be the problem child" Maria grumbled.

"He is just horny, that's all" Jacob laughed.

She almost asked him if he wasn't.

"She means good, most of the time but..." he sighed, stepping out of her room "Bronze Barbie has issues and difficulty being cared for. She always thinks people are out to get her..." he closed the door softly and she fell back on the bed, thinking of his smile, his voice and wondering on their past.

All of them; the wolves, Jacob, Charles and Renesme.

"Problem Child" she sighed to herself. She understood that, at least. She had been one, after all, and she had a feeling she was going to manifest that in her new family too.

**Authors Note:**

**Thank you all for the reviews! They just warm my heart...**

**To any new readers, welcome... and if its confusing, that's because this is the third part to a trilogy. You may want to They Set Out to Kill Fate, then They Set out to Fight Love.**

**Leah and Charles... well, its happening. Trust me, but it has to be just right... right?**

**Jacob and Renesme... I think they have been through so much and deserve a chance at happiness.**

**Xxx**

**Tj**


	3. The Last Passion

**The Last Passion**

The realisation that Maria's weakness was something I craved startled me.

I wonder, if she had been half vampire at least, would it have made this much easier; would it have made the thirst so much more bearable if I had had someone to commiserate with. She sits in the lounge, clutching a cushion to her and listening intently as Collin relays his first phase.

Of course, I don't enter the room entirely. They are giving her their history, and when they get to my influence in it... it will hurt. Maybe they will be sincere and leave my insolence out of it; but the impact I had on their beloved Alpha is too great for anyone to ignore.

I meet his eyes; he isn't listening to Collin, he had never been listening. He had been watching me. I frown at him, he frowns at me and I lean away from the door frame and make my way to the kitchen, already mapping my exit through the kitchen door and to the garage. Leah, at least, doesn't care about the past so much.

I move, he shifts slightly and as I walk away, I know Jacob will follow me soon after. This is worse than how he would be drawn to me during our imprint; at least then, it had been sweet and lovely. When it had turned annoying and overbearing, that had been okay too. He follows because he doesn't trust me, he follows because he knows me; how can he know me when he doesn't remember me?

How can he know me so suddenly when the imprint is severed, know me much more intensely than ever. It seems he can read my mind, it feels like he knows every wickedness I had committed and my every call for retribution to the sins that have been imposed upon me.

I am out the door, in the garage and sitting nonchalantly in the worn garden chair in under a second. I can hear him charging into the kitchen, his annoyed sigh and his skipping over the lawn towards the garage.

"Don't do that!" Leah hissed. She pauses her inspection of a gun and removes the goggles she is wearing. It's a gun from the laboratory, such a human piece of equipment. Leah has become obsessed with their little devices.

"Sorry" I shrug. "I'll make a sound next time"

"Why are you even...?" she is about to ask but Jacob enters, his large frame blotting out the sunlight form the outside. His whole front is covered in shadows, his face hidden but his eyes flash. "Right" Leah sniggers, resuming her cleaning of one rifle with a blue tipped barrel with new found fervour.

"Why did you leave?" Jacob demanded. He enters casually and sits opposite me. He stretches his long legs out and folds his hands behind his head, watching me intently.

"Well, I want to allow them to give Maria a detailed account of their history without having to consider my presence" I say, picking at one long thin rifle. Leah pauses her cleaning and gives me a reproving look. I retract my finger and curl it into fist, shoving the hand under my armpit and crossing my arms.

"You over think the past" he says.

"You don't remember it" I tell him. "I was..." I want to say 'so cruel to you', but a rock lodges in my throat. I exhale sharply and look away, watching Leah's steady movements. I don't want to inhale but I have to, and when I do; its Leah and Jacob, mingled with the smell of _gun._ It doesn't hurt so much, it doesn't make my mouth water too badly; Leah covers Jacobs scent, and the gun smell flings it all to nothing but an irksome reminder that I am thirsty.

"How's your great aunt or is it third cousin?" he asks casually. Leah pauses and looks at me from the corner of her eye. "She was Edward's uncle's descendant, right?"

"It's just a suspicion" I mutter. I know he is up to something; we aren't growling at each other, he isn't passing snide remarks. He is being... nice.

"You are nothing if not thorough, Renesme" Jacob leans forward and looks at me sternly "You have no patience for humans, so I think you are more than certain about... Diana?"  
>"Diane" I correct.<p>

"Does Edward know?"  
>"Why does he have to know?" I breathed "What's the harm in it? All of you get to have family and I can't? I have no one..."<br>"You have Charles" Leah corrects.

"Charles is currently busy being in love and I would not get in the way of that" I say quickly.

"In love...?" Jacob frowns.

"Have you not been paying attention to the affairs of your pack?" I smile, rising out of the chair slowly. Leah is glaring at me but it means nothing in the face of Jacob's fleeting emotions disarranging his face; confusion, comprehension, betrayal, pain and a whole other set of feelings.

"Leah and Charles had a lovely little make out session at the beach" I smiled at him. He controlled his expression as best as he could while Leah began to fidget "Our son has grown up so fast, hasn't he?"

Xx~xx~xX

"Rene, you came!" she opened the door wider and stepped aside for me to enter. It was strange, having her want me here; having her so passionate about my company. She didn't find me boring, she didn't make me recoil into myself either and the _chatting _was truly enjoyable.

I was certain it was because she shared genes with me, genes that were untainted by history. It was pure and fresh.

Easy, I realised.

"Of course I would come" I smiled. Her home was humble, clean and feminine. A piano stood unassumingly against the left wall in the dining room and a small dining table at one end. It gave the idea of a family set up, but it was all too sparse.

She led me through her home, into her lounge. "Take a seat" she smiled, pointing at a chair opposite a leather wingback. She didn't have a television set and I liked this, and instead a modest bookcase drew my eye. It had a black vase on top of it, with three long stemmed white flowers with curling bulbs.

"I'll go heat up some water for coffee" she smiled. She was nervous. I was too; that relief of connecting with someone who understood your passion, the intimacy of revealing such a thing to a stranger-the excitement that you would know them, and forever more have a confidant.

I sat down slowly, carefully. Her home smelt sweet, little vases with various dainty flowers littered many surfaces and there was a coating of a feline scent. She had a cat.

"Here..." she entered carrying a small tray, balancing the contents effortlessly. She pulled a side table to me, and placed the tray carefully on it. "I just saw that you seemed to like coffee...?"  
>"From the coffee shop?" I laughed. She smiled and laughed with me. "I do spend a lot of time in there, don't I?"<br>"Yes, you do..." she took her tea cup and sat in the chair opposite me, crossing her legs gently before taking a small sip "You like to keep an eye on your sister?"

I almost tripped over her question, so lost in the little world we were spinning into life before us. Ballet, flowers and romance... so different from the other world I had lived with Nahuel; ball gowns, blood and corpses "Yes" I answered after an uncustomary pause. "I mean... she is more at ease when she knows I support her independence"

"I wish I had had someone like that" she sighed "I ran away to be a ballerina" she raised her head proudly, closing her eyes and recalling the perfect moment she had braved the world and fought for her dreams. She smiled, opening her eyes "When you have no one, Rene... you have to have yourself" she sipped her tea, watching me from above the rim of her spectacles.

"That is... so true" I said, holding the hot cup in both my hands. I smelt it experimentally; the bitter smell of coffee, the sting of it in my sensitive nose and the grumbling of my stomach and scorch of my throat-this was not blood. I pressed my closed lips to the rim, tilting the cup slightly so the steam wafted over my nose before quickly placing it back on the tray.

She was watching me fixedly. I smiled, it startled her a little and she smiled back hastily.

"You are _so_ beautiful" she sighed almost enviously "So young and _gorgeous_ to be so sad!"

"I am not sad" the smile stuck on my face. "And you...!" I pointed at her "Beauty incarnate"  
>"My dear..." she drank her tea lengthily, leaning elegantly in the chair "I will not be bashful about it; I was a looker but you, Rene, are <em>hypnotic. <em>Why, no wonder that big brute is always stalking you! He is probably outside, positively love sick and waiting for you!"

"It's not what you think" I told her slowly "I keep telling you"  
>"Oh, please" she winked knowingly "He is <em>hypnotised<em>. He is a new resident here, isn't he? I think I heard Joseph, my late husband's friend, mention he had visited their gym?"

I blinked, dumbfounded. I didn't know what activities Jacob got up to if he wasn't being _cosy _with Maria or training with Atka, Seth and Embry. The thought that he would be doing something so very human made me reel back. I forgot sometimes, that in between everything that was happening we needed to be human. Diane had reminded me of that fact; our humanity made the supernatural war more bearable.

That very weakness was what made us sane, or was the insanity of holding onto it what made everything else seem so attainable.

We were very careful to keep our address as hidden as possible. I had chosen the house lost in the middle of nothing, and distance was virtually nothing for everyone. There were two cars in town that we could use once we got here, a cover; Katherine would arrive on Seth, then he would drive her to the coffee shop and most times I would surrender the second car to Jacob and take a cab.

"Yes, I met him here" I raised the cup but midway on its journey to my lips, I put it back down. I hated coffee; the brown liquid looked like dead blood. Poison.

"There is an Indian Reservation not far from here..." she said. "I've seen a couple of guys from there at the gym too..."  
>Wolves going to the gym. I laughed.<p>

She smiled, giving me a mild dubious look before touching her cup "Ah, I'm all out!" she got up hurriedly, walking over to me "Let me refill yours too" she picked my cup up and looked inside it. She said nothing for a moment, no comment on the full cup before rushing away to the kitchen with a non committal yelp.

I prayed she wouldn't come back with fresh hot coffee... the little biscuits on the tray looked like daisy shaped sponges. She re-entered, smiling and at ease... with two cups in her hand. Coffee wafting in the air. My stomach churned...

"Ah, Ms Mopsy!" Diane placed the cup on my table and a ginger cat strutted in. It paused a few feet from me and looked up at me with dark eyes before rerouting and walking deliberately by my feet, and then back again, rubbing its back against my bare shin. I giggled abruptly and it meowed, looking up at me sulkily with its green eyes.

It sort of reminded me of Charles, as a wolf. I giggled again.

"She likes you" Diane smiled. "That's good"

"She's lovely" I picked her up carefully and rubbed my cheek to her face. She began to purr gently, appreciating the affection. I kissed her nose once, nudging my own nose against hers before placing her back down.

"Would you like to see some photos I have?" Diane reached behind her chair "They are of my younger days with _the company_"

I tensed, my heart stuttering.

"I was with the _Grande Royal_ company...!" she said smugly, retrieving a maroon covered album and opening it carefully "Oh, the glamour and grace; the parties and unruliness...!"

"Ballet Company" I smiled in relief, the breath knocking out of me. "Yes...!" I reached my hand out and she leaned forward, passing me the album.

She was in most of the photos; in costume, on stage, mingled with other humans, at parties and out in the town. She had been as petite as she was now, but her hair had been bone straight and long where it was not tied into a bun. There was a man with her in some, a handsome man who was not her husband I was sure.

"Who is he?" I asked her.

"The only man I found my passion in" she sipped her tea. "The worst thing to ever happen to me"

"I can relate" I whispered.

"He loved me in such a way as I had never known!" she laughed "He showed me lights and glamour..."

As Nahuel had done.

"Oh, he loved me... he loathed me..." she took another sip, loudly "He hated everything I was; my beauty, my talent and my love for the world" she spat this out "He was already the best. Oh, he was a magnificent dancer and I couldn't understand why my demure talent was a threat. He thought my function was to pay tribute to him; console _his_ talent, console _his_ beauty..."

"What a devious _weak _man!" I snarled.

"Very true" she smiled, but it was a bitter smile. "I was there to simply accentuate what he thought of himself; a god-I was to be beautiful, I was to be desirable but most importantly I was to be his...oh, he ruined me!"  
>"Asshole!" I hissed.<p>

"Every word from him would be a lie. Every loving action had a self serving purpose" she shook her head. "Oh, he thought he was _so_ clever... so well hidden in his visage, that at times he believed his own lies!"

"That kind of guy could change your sexuality" I frowned. "Could make you consider an alternate _species_..."

"He had me with as little as a bit of glitz and cocaine" she said nonchalantly "A cheap price, wouldn't you say?"  
>"For such a beauty as yourself?" I smiled. "Too cheap"<p>

"I left him" she said softly "Before he had bled me dry. The city was threatening to kill me on behalf of him too... so I ran back here. Married a good man..."  
>"What's a good man?"<p>

"A man who knows enough about your passion to let you burn a candle in its memory, but not enough that he can snuff it out" she winked "A simple man, is a good man... but like my late sister would say-this was after meeting the ballet peacock, 'A gentleman always lets his woman pose'"

She pointed at a worn picture, where the handsome man had stepped half in front of her, partially hiding her and posed. I laughed.

"What would _you_ say a good man was?" she asked me.

Someone who was not Nahuel?

"Someone who is not like me?" I whispered. What had drawn me to Nahuel, after all, was being in the same species; it meant sharing the same wants and likes, I supposed.

"I can understand that" she nodded, her eyes urging me on.

"Someone who knew to be... firm with me?" I tried not to think about Jacob's ability to do just that "I can be very stubborn, you see. I think I would need someone who... wouldn't take advantage of me. I can be very trusting too... or at least, I used to be that way"

"Funnily, all that I needed I found in my husband although it was not passion at first" she sighed gently "He didn't know _anything _about refined arts, he cared very little for fashion, had no interest in the public world, preferred that I did all the talking and couldn't manipulate peanut butter out of a jar even if you gave him the spoon!"

I laughed with her. "We were nothing alike" she smiled wistfully "And it was exactly what I needed. So yes, I understand you"

"I suppose we all need the obsession of finding a soul mate" I said thoughtfully "You have to grow from that, to find the _right_ love. The sweetness is the silence of being mystified by a lover's language and passion. The purity is in the humility of his admiration, the sensuality of learning the intricacies of that language you don't share, _that_ unrefined love; the rare disposition of its complexity in knowing you before you have uttered a word, not from being you... but loving you as you are, so completely different from them. A true love that does not show off or deride from your individual value"

"You are who you are" she breathed "Not an accessory to another being's self-worth"

"Precisely"

"Profoundly" she smiled. "Would you like to see a picture of my husband?"

I nodded my head; I was lost in a future where I would find a love that had no purpose save to be. It wasn't about how you made them feel, how you made them look; it had no significance but simply to exist; incongruously through every sin, such a love could heal any wound and then after, the evidence of its beauty would emerge in ones sense of self and self image. It was not a means to an end, there to stroke an ego, uplift the insecure... it just _was_.

I wanted it so badly.

She took another album from behind the chair, from a ledge that ran along the room divider I realised. It was thin and half the size of the maroon one. She opened the first page and pointed at a picture of two young girls "My sister and I"

She turned the next page and straightened up; rising "That's him" she moved backwards and sat down in her chair. "Keep going"

"Is this your mother and father?" I asked but she was now much too far to see. She simply nodded. I turned the next few pages; a wedding, a party (not like her wild city ones), a baptism of a niece I thought... a worn one that looked like that of her father, and then...

"Oh" I breathed.

"You have seen it then" she whispered. "What would be the first ever family photo? It was taken many decades ago... and yet, there you are Rene"

"Diane?" I whispered, but the sudden smell of _blood_ knocked me back further.

When danger approaches and there is that certainty that you are about to be harmed; there is that split seconds of naivety were you do believe that it's not as bad as it seems-that you may leave unscathed. I trust her, even now and I am trying to force my mind to project an alternate reality to this one-it's a misunderstanding, please let it be a misunderstanding dear God...

I can't acknowledge that I had trusted her more than I had trusted those who had been in my life since my first breath, but that was what had happened and it made me so angry; it made me angry with _myself_. I had wanted the little family; I had wanted the human life so badly and yet I had clung to my principles that humans were lesser, humans were incapable of such cruelty; such a contradiction in my sentiments when I had been tortured by humans.

I was so angry with myself. How could I be so _stupid..._!

"Yes, Rene" she smiled. "I know you are not human" she raised her cut finger in the air, surveying it with wicked curiosity. "They warned me you would come for me" she whispered, the blood oozing thick and slow down her index finger.

"No" my voice was low, strained. My throat roared with anticipation, my nostrils flared and my mind was clogged with the smell of her blood; the understanding of what was in it. Pure life. My body lurched forward, my mind commanded it to remain still and I slammed into myself. I shuddered, my eyes watering and heart beating fast. "No..." I shook my head. "You wouldn't...know" I said "I was careful?"

"They warned me you would come to kill me" she hissed "Like you killed my husband"

"I don't know what you are talking about!" I cried, clutching the armrest of the chair, my fingers digging through the material until I could feel the wood beneath the stuffing. I gouged into it, and tried to somewhat nail myself to the chair; to keep from flying at her, to keep from ramming into her frail body and latching onto her neck.

To keep from killing her.

"Diane?" I pleaded but she squeezed her finger, the blood dripping freely.

"This was all it would take?" she sighed. "For you to reveal yourself to me?"

"You were waiting for me" I breathed.

"I was warned" Diane laughed "I thought they were mad; but when I saw you in the coffee shop, I knew that I would live again. I would be back on the stage...!"

"Enough of this" I got up shakily and she paid me attention "I will kill you"  
>"Like you killed my husband?"<br>"Like I killed so many worthless humans...!" I snarled and she reeled back, finally understanding that knowing I was a demon and witnessing it in the act were two different things. She reached behind her, struggling with something and pulled out a gun, pointing it at me with little confidence.

"A gun?" I laughed. I raised her _precious_ coffee table easily with one hand and clenched my fingers around the rim of the table top. It snapped in an unjust quarter, the larger portion of it falling to the ground instantly and she let out a tiny shriek, the gun shaking in her hands. "If you are going to do something, do it with conviction. If you are going to kill, kill with everything you have. If you are going to love, love as though you will die at any second..."

She cut me short, the trigger pulled and a loud bang filling the room. For a moment, I was unsure on what had happened, my ears ringing painfully. I looked at her through a haze of liquid-tears, I realised and stupidly registering that they were my _own _tears.

"That was..." I was going to say annoying but when the ringing sound abated for my ears, I could feel the wetness on my front. I tasted rust and my throat roared, and I thought-again, such an idiotic thought-that I had somehow grabbed her and fed from her. But I hadn't... of course, I hadn't... I had more control. She was, just human and not so appetizing that I would lose all sense.

The blood in my mouth was my own, gurgled up from my throat and seeping from within my body. The wetness on my front was blood too, my own, and inside me I could feel hooks. Needles pierced my skin over the expanse of my front; I looked down and saw several tiny tubes anchored from each hole the gun had wounded on my body. The tubes ran from me, to the gun that Diane held shakily in her hands.

"Wh..." as I tried to talk, I coughed out blood. The movement of my lungs, the movement of my body against the tubes caused me severe pain. My eyes stung, tears rolled down my face and when I looked to her glass cabinet, I saw my reflection.

I was pale, my mouth stained with my blood. It dribbled from my chin to my front, and along my shirt several bloody holes shown and from them, clear tubes escaped back to Diane's gun.

There was a soft knock on her door. I hadn't heard any footsteps, but my senses were currently focused on the fact that I may just die, simply because I was denying myself human blood for so long. She jumped at the sound of the knock, the gun wobbling and with it the tubes too and I groaned in pain, more blood pushing up my throat and being coughed out.

"Coming!" she yelled. She tugged backwards and I was forced to follow. "I suggest you don't move" she whispered, wiping sweat from her brow. She placed the gun on the couch she had been sitting on, looking at me with disgusted wonder before attending to the door.

I should move to the gun, I thought. But my nerves were on fire; the needles in me must have been tainted with something.

"You are here!" I heard her greet. Her voice was shrill, she was afraid of her own actions. I stared at the gun, willing it to fly to me. I willed my hands to move and remove the sickening tubes, pry the needles out of me but I was paralyzed.

"There she is..." Diane entered the lounge, pointing a shaking finger at me. I heard the tap of court shoes over the tiles, the little sigh and the two heavier sets of footsteps echoing the woman.

"Renesme" Lorraine smiled sweetly. "You silly little girl"

I was afraid.

Out of all the possibilities, this one had not crossed my mind. I had been so certain that it was Joham, or Nahuel... or the Volturi, someone... but her? This prim fat woman with her beady eyes and pink thin lips and floral puke outfit.

"You should have listened when I told you not to go into the lab room" Lorraine shook her head, walking to the chair that the gun sat threateningly on. She touched it contemplatively and looked up at me, smiling again "You see, you took something from us. You took a young girl that we had been hoping to one day hire into our Company"

Maria.

"Joham knows" Lorraine sighed. "He knows that the girl exists but I have seen nothing so I am guessing Isabella has adopted her?"

She didn't know about the pack. Of course, they were not in her system and Maria had been unwilling to join Katherine working at the coffee shop. To Lorraine, the dithering Quileutes meant nothing; she knew nothing of them. It was I that she had been watching.

"Jo..." I tried and she laughed manically.

"Yes, he has been here... looking for you. Looking for Maria" Lorraine giggled "Of course, after he killed that woman I had to let him know that this was my territory. I can't take him down..." she paused "He is keeping Rio in check of current. Raul as you know, is a barbarian. My superiors were not pleases with the incident in that little town your family had taken refuge in, do you remember? So many deaths... and after the break out... well, I can't just go setting werewolves on you"

The men entered the room on queue and grinned at me; thin, lifeless and hungry. I gulped my fear and blood down.

"But I have a better way for you to die, Renesme" she whispered, taking the gun and unscrewing its mouth. The tubes were attached to a small coin like piece. The one man rolled a clear plastic drum in and carried it towards me, placing it by my feet. She attached the small piece to a small tap on the drum and turned it once. I felt the blood pull out of me, the pain as it left and the horror as it slid through the tubes and dripped into the drums.

She wiped her hands on the couch and turned to Diane "You have done well, my dear"

"It's just like you said" Diane whispered.

"Yes" Lorraine smiled before turning her cruel eyes at me "The idiocy of searching out a human relation!"

It had been Diane who had alerted Lorraine that I was in the town, and yet if Diane had not called Lorraine I would have had Joham to deal with. Joham, was infinitesimally crueller. Simply draining me of blood until my heart stilled, would not please him.

"Once again, your family has abandoned you" Lorraine laughed. She picked up the damning picture of a lovely woman flanked by two men, holding a bundled baby. It was ancient and worn but there was no mistake in my resemblance to Edward's mother. I could have been her twin. "Die well, finally... Renesme"

Xx~xx~xX

I could hear every drop of my blood thundering into the rising ocean of red trapped in the clear drum. I had been afraid of death, but _not_ afraid of dying. Death's end was not the terror, the terror had been in the journey and who would oversee my descent into darkness.

Alone, with only my thoughts and sweet memories, I was safe. God would watch me, Esme would hold me; I was safe. Dying was not cruel; a still heart was not such a gruesome state; if it were painless, if I were coddled in the warmth of knowing all that mattered was safe.

"I can take that nap now..." I thought to Angela, but she would never hear me. I could sleep now for the torture of existing would come to an end.

Each drop would be every second of my life. Could I say it had been short? I had fulfilled more than many a human; I had laughed and maybe not as much as was essential but I did have something to hold on to that resembled true happiness. I had cried, maybe more than what was customary but I had come to learn that pain was not weakness; it was what had made my skin thicker. I had loved...

Naively, intensely and cruelly. If I could undo that emotion I had allowed to be abused by an undeserving man, that love I had inflicted on an innocent man... I would undo the torment my tainted heart had caused and endured.

But it had burnt to ashes, from that soot a new virtuous muscle formed.

That heart was an underground brook, covered by parched lands and a bitter wilderness. The exertion of such an expedition, the limits that would have to be pushed coupled with the uncertainty of surviving that journey... how many brave men would dare? Why risk it... those waters were precarious; they could just as easily be nectar as they could be poison.

In my approaching death, I still found no fault in Diane; she had given me something I had never had. It was not ostentatious, not life changing... something so small and meagre.

A conversation as though I were a young woman passionate about ballet; I grabbed onto that little fantasy, and as my mind queasily swirled; I danced in a room filled with mirrors, my hair tied tightly on my head, wound into a bun and a pale pink costume fit elegantly on my body.

I was purity, I was beauty, I was innocence and no one was watching.

Papa's lullaby twirled in my head, and I glided over its tune, weaving in with its delicate peal.

Xx~xx~xX


	4. A Thousand Ways to Die

**A Thousand Ways to Die**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

**CHARLES EDWARD BLACK**

I don't think we truly know happiness, until we know misery. It was like light and darkness, to understand the other you needed to experience its counterpart but this did not make darkness or misery such cruel things. Without them, there could be no nectar of prescience to the world.

Without them, everything would not be all so sweet...

"...and Seth says Carlisle could help with my condition..." Katherine continued, waving her hands in the air to illustrate how _wondrous _Seth's words were. I smiled, expertly listening to her while watching Leah and Seth have their own discussion hunched over the coffee table; the worst spies to ever exist.

"Carlisle will not be back with us in a long time, Katherine" I sighed, holding her hand carefully. She started at the contact, her hand jerking slightly but not escaping my own. She hated being touched, constantly wary of everyone's intention, albeit on a subconscious level.

She was still scrawny, carrying the weight of her werewolf affliction forever but there was light in her eyes. I could remember her human self so easily and it amazed me that she seemed to have fared much better with this life that so many of us thought of as a form of purgatory or damnation.

She had been human once, truly and naturally with no ambiguity to the fact; and yet now, when she had a nasty taste for dead flesh... she had come alive. Sometimes, what we think we are is not what the world sees us as; she would never have known her own strength had she not had it sapped out of her by that bite.

If Carlisle returned, if Carlisle cured her; would she still hold that light? Would it not die as the poison that had united with her genes was removed? Could she go back to the dim light of humanity, the brief flicker of mortality's fast burning candle?

Her smile had faltered after I had told her that Carlisle's was unlikely to return-as I expected it to. When I had been her age, I had understood things almost instantaneously with little explanation and a lot of intuition. When I had been her age, I had had men following Leah and I, I had had a hybrid mother who was ten years older than I and a shape shifter father with little hold on his reality.

But I had had Leah, for all my life.

"Those two are up to something?" I leaned on the counter and cocked my head to the left, to the Clearwater siblings.

"Oh, Jacob asked Seth to stick around in the coffee shop until 'instructed' otherwise" she said after a minute. This didn't interest her like it interested me, except possibly for the attention Seth's presence garnered from the other waitresses. It must be a girl thing, _showing off_... Katherine was wise enough not say much on the matter-still undecided on Seth-but having a bunch of shape shifters and Renesme and myself constantly coming in and out of the coffee shop had done wonders for her budding social life.

"Why?"  
>"How should I know?" she pouted, looking at one of the waiters from the corner of her eye-a pretty blonde girl with too much lip gloss on her lips.<p>

"Come on, Katherine" I sighed "Try. Seth and Leah have no interest in being here"

"You are here?" she pointed out.

"I am" I agreed, smiling at her "But I wasn't invited and that annoys me"  
>"You get annoyed a lot these days" she pressed her lips together to keep from giggling. It was something I wasn't obliged to like about her, unlike Seth, and Katherine's giggles were high pitched and <em>painful<em>-not the audio volume, oh she couldn't reach such volume, but something in the hilt and quality. I imagined this was what it would feel like to have a little sister... who had the world's worst pms ever...

"Your friend?" I pointed at the blonde "She's pretty"  
>"I promised her I would introduce you to her" Katherine whispered conspiratorially, leaning her head lower to my ear. "She is having a party this afternoon"<br>"Does Seth know?" I mouthed to her, checking if Leah and Seth were engrossed in their 'code' sibling stuff. They were arguing, in _Quileute_...

Tricky Shape Shifter's... why Edward _had_ to teach me a Latin was besides me...

She shook her head once, sideways and went back to wringing her towel. "I was sort of hoping Jacob would take me..."  
>"No, you don't want that" I chuckled "He is a lot less mature in public, but still packs an intimidating punch on fun"<br>"Have you ever been to a party?" Katherine asked her eyes wide and in awe. I could almost hear her thoughts; this would be the part I said 'Yes', and spoke on how cool my life had been.

"No, no parties" I smiled "I was a major dork, I got bullied, had acne and asthma"

She gasped; something about her reaction seemed more intense than if I had told her I had been a rock star. She was about to say more when the blonde girl called her, sure not to look at me, and pointed at a very dishevelled woman-that was Angela, walking in.

"Kat!" the girl called "That one's yours"  
>"Okay" Katherine nodded her head enthusiastically, probably mapping out her rise to popularity against the moon's schedule and Jacob's planned departure to Malwood. "Angela!" Katherine called, and Angela moved irksomely slow towards us-wearing shades, a lose pony on top of her head and a mismatched training outfit. She <em>obviously<em> hadn't seen Renesme this morning.

"Has the sun always been this bright?" Angela's voice was groggy and the smell of alcohol wafting off of her aggravated my nose. "Why does everyone insist on hanging out here?"  
>"I work here" Katherine said primly, pointing at her name badge proudly. "Charles... is helping me with...something"<br>"First thing about being supernatural, is learn to lie... even I know that" Angela sighed, removing her shades and placing them indifferently on the counter top, before rudely waving blondie over.

"Hey!" Angela yelled, shocking half the patrons "I need coffee!" she pointed at the coffee-cup free space in front of her.

"Kaaat?"" the waitress whined but Katherine seemed to have forgotten that was her new nickname.

"Uhm, Katherine" I nudged her arm and she looked at me, blinking unassumingly "You sort of work here...?"  
>"Where?"<br>"In this coffee shop?" I pointed at her name tag, her uniform and then mouthed "Blondie's party?"

"Oh, uh... I'll be your waitress, Angela" Katherine smiled, standing straight and retrieving a little notepad from her breast pocket "What would you have?"  
>"A strong cappuccino" Angela grumbled and the moment Katherine walked away, she turned sharply to me and said "The service here sucks. Why should anyone have to remind the waitresses that they are waitresses"<br>"Hangover much?" I chuckled and she gave me a warning look, before looking around the shop.

"Stalking Leah much?"  
>"Technically, she would have been stalking me first"<p>

"Technically..." Angela sighed in relief as her cappuccino arrived "That's just a technicality... a very weird one"

"You live with a bunch of freaks" I chuckled "You still want to use the word 'weird' to describe stuff?"  
>"Speaking of weird" she sipped her beverage slowly, closing her eyes in satisfaction "Since when are you and Katherine thick as thieves?"<p>

I could see why Jacob liked Angela. She was shockingly perceptive and her wit cut with just the right amount of depth, leaving it near impossible to be offended.

"Between you and I" I whispered to her "Katherine and I are thinking of doing some teenage things"

"Sounds... dangerous for you. Should I say 'use protection' or 'get neutered'?" she sipped her coffee, before paying attention to Katherine's over exaggerated gagging with mild interest "Atka's quite the looker, too bad he isn't that tall, eh?"  
>"Atka?" I frowned, looking over to Leah and Seth's cosy scheming. I met Seth's eyes and he frowned viciously at me. He had obviously heard my little shout of 'Atka', from across the shop.<p>

I had that 'Ah' moment as the pieces of the pack started making a little more sense outside of my determination to annoy Leah into submission.

"Uhm... I should introduce you to Jessica" Katherine flung her towel across the countertop were it slid right off and disappeared at her side of the counter. She contemplated retrieving it, then looked up at me, then at a laughing Angela before her eyes swivelled to the Clearwaters. I watched as her eyes widened-no doubt meeting Seth's gaze.

She stumbled away then, muttering to herself.

"You are dangerous when you are hung over" I sighed.

"Correction" Angela smiled "I am dangerous when I don't get my coffee"  
>"Why couldn't you just make it at home?"<br>"The coffee machine broke" Angela said behind her raised cup. "I needed to speak to our home _management _about that, but neither Nessie nor Jake could be found and you know how the pack behaves when Leah and Jacob aren't around. Bunch of toddlers with muscles..."

"I can't imagine you before this" I sighed.

"Funnily, not much has changed" she chuckled "Still single, back to drinking but now, I have grey hair"

"Its three strands" I said, carefully pulling one out of her pony.

"Two are better than one but _three_ is just cruel"

"Jessica" Katherine beamed, pointing at me "This is Charles. He thinks you are pretty"  
>I am burning every single one of her Gossip Girl DVD's.<p>

"Don't I get introduced?" Angela complained "Or am I not cool enough?" she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Is this your mum?" Jessica asked, pointing at Angela.

"I'm going to the grownups table" Angela huffed, taking her coffee and shades with her before throwing Jessica a disdained look. "If you all had been nicer, I would have spied for you"  
>"No use" I chuckled "Unless you speak Quileute but what you could do, is give me your car keys"<br>"Why would you need a car?" Angela asked.

I smiled at her indicatively, tilting my head to Jessica.

"No, seriously?" Angela frowned.

"To get from point A..." I placed a finger on one inch of the table "To B" then moved it to a further place "Safely and quickly?"

"Right" she took the keys out off her pocket and tossed them on the table. "Perpetual Teenagers"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**Jacob Black**

**X **

I read in a magazine once, some psychological article, on how victims of kidnapping would get attached to their kidnappers. Those victims would end up forming a bond with their captors, a strange form of love and companionship through that violence.

"_Stupid_" I watched her from behind the tinted windows, walking carefree on the pavement. Half vampire, beautiful, intelligent with preternatural senses and she _hadn't_ noticed me. I knew she wasn't pretending, I knew this wasn't a game (just like before, in the coffee shop); Renesme didn't give a damn whether I knew or not.

This was not about me, this was not about the wolves or our group; this was all about her. Stupid, clever and selfish as she was and maybe I should just let her be. I should let her have her fun, let her anchor her humanity in that woman; have a real grandmother or whatever Diane Downey was to her.

Renesme pauses, and for a second I think that she may know I am watching her. I had changed cars, I had arrived this side of town much earlier than she had and although I didn't know what number Diane's house was-I knew I was in the right street and in the right location. She looked around her, a little smile on her face before walking deliberately up to a house. She moved strangely for her-human, absently and... free. She tiptoed over the pavement, skipping lightly before doing an odd ballerina's twirl in the air, landing gracefully back down. She remained poised for a second-and again, the possibility that I had been discovered was real and she could just be messing with my head... but she wasn't.

"What is she doing?" Maria leaned in from the backseat, wedging herself in the space between the driver's seat and the passenger seat. "Is she... playing games?"

"No, she isn't..." I sighed, watching as she disappeared into the house. "She is in her own world"

"She is in her own world?" Maria scoffed, falling back theatrically. "You've been spying on her..."  
>"Watching over her" I corrected. "Someone has to do it"<p>

"I just don't get why that someone has to be you" she sighed. "Or do you feel indebted for her saving your life?"  
>"She didn't save my life" I sighed. "I don't react to venoms the way my brothers and sister do; I heal from it, eventually"<br>"Is that because you are Alpha?" she asked, leaning forward again, this time really close to me. I could feel her breath wisp over my cheek as she spoke.

"It's because of Charles" I said carefully, looking at her from the corner of my eye.

"Charles..." Maria nodded. "He's... your son"  
>"Try not to sound so dumbfounded" I sighed "We are immortal"<br>"No, I get it..." she smiled ruefully "It's just... you seem really young sometimes, when you aren't in 'Alpha Mode'"  
>"I <em>am<em> young"  
>"I mean psychologically" she said and then added "But not as bad as Bradley and Collin can get, but somehow still... more... <em>naturally<em> young"  
>"I had amnesia" I said "I lost a couple of decades because of it" I paused and took in a careful breath before continuing, with my eyes closed and the memory of each death I had felt brought to the fore front of my vision and heart "When I woke up from the death this last time, I was worried I wouldn't remember them; Charles... Renesme"<br>"Why Renesme?" she asked, her tone mildly disdainful. "I mean, I get the whole first love thing..."  
>"I don't remember that part of our relationship" I said, choosing to leave out the complicated 'imprint' word "I don't remember her. I lost all the years of my life with her. I remembered all the way up to the point I was sixteen..."<p>

"That would give you all the more reason not to care on really remembering her" Maria grumbled, manoeuvring herself to the front seat "I don't mean to be cruel..."  
>I thought she really did mean to be cruel, in a very <em>teenage <em>way. It was cute... refreshing.

"It's just... she and you seem..."  
>"To hate each other" I whispered.<p>

"And yet after Charles, it was her you wanted to remember?"  
>"I know her" I said. "The fights you see Nessie and I have, Maria... don't let them mislead you, don't let them make you confident in your assumptions. The way I feel about her is not the same as what my brother's feel about her"<br>"There is no doubt about that?" she smiled, her small hand going over mine and squeezing lightly. I almost jumped at the contact, frowning at the contrast of our skin and the size of her hand against mine. She rubbed her thumb over the back of my hand and said "You are the most caring person I know"  
>"After Angela, you mean" I smiled.<p>

She smiled too, never removing her hand. She looked me straight in the eye and I could feel myself warm up, heat up from the centre. I didn't know what to do, were Maria and I where and how we had gotten here...

"Er..." I coughed, taking my hand back and using it to brush my hair back. I locked my arms over my chest-safely-and leaned back in the seat.

"Did I overstep?" she whispered.

"No" my voice came out gruff, it was safer to keep my eyes closed and pretend to be deep in some important thought... not my little teenage horniness working up a storm in me. I realised how _not _used to this I was. Fling a boulder at me, shoot at me... just, don't flirt with me Maria.

"I did, didn't I?" there was a smile in her voice. "I'm..." she began but she stopped suddenly, dropping to the floor of the car abruptly and letting out a sharp wheeze. I jumped, looking around and grabbing the steering wheel.

She was crouched in the space in front of the seat, her eyes wide and whites clear. She was pale.

"Maria?"

"Shhh!" she put her index finger over her lips and mouthed "Lorraine"

I looked up, expecting to see soldiers, werewolves and tanks. Instead, an SUV was parked in front of the house next to Diane's, and a plump woman stood beside it talking to a tall thin man animatedly. The plump woman was exactly how Angela had described her; a mother, a housewife... a church going woman. Not a cruel, vindictive calculating general of an army of werewolves and anti-supernatural humans.

"They are talking about... Joham" I whispered. "I can't quite make it out but I think... he was... here" a chill ran down my spine and my fingers clenched over the steering wheel. The one man looked over to my car, gazing at me for a second too long. "Stay here" I told Maria.

"What the heck?!" she hissed.

I ignored her and opened the door slowly, stepping out calmly and stretching. I walked around the car to the bonnet and pulled it up before leaning over the engine and frowning. "Water" I sighed loudly, slamming the bonnet shut with careful force. I waved at the men and they frowned at me in response. It was Lorraine who waved back, instead.

I walked over to them slowly, rubbing my hands over my jeans and praying Renesme was not paying attention to the outdoors right now. I couldn't predict her reaction, and as I got closer to the car I saw three more men inside it. That would put it at six werewolves, and just behind the car... a small car parked. Two more men where inside; we were badly outnumbered and nothing rash could be afforded.

"Afternoon" I smiled at Lorraine, nodding at her hostile body guards. "This is a strange question, but do you live there?" I pointed at the house next to Diane's, and then back at my car "I sort of need water for my car..."

"Oh, has it broken down?" she asked sweetly, her eyes filling with concern. I couldn't believe she was a cold calculating bitch... not at all; her smile was genuine and so was her worry. "I don't live there, but people around here are really nice"

I smiled at her, expertly and said my thank you before walking up to the house, praying all the while and trying to listen in to Diane's home. I thought I could hear laughter, I thought I could hear Diane's screams of blue murder but mostly I could feel my heart beating heavily in my chest. I could feel _power_, fear and anticipation raging in my veins.

I got to the door and forgot to knock, all my senses-mental and otherwise-somehow trying to hone in on Renesme, Lorraine and Maria in the car.

"Shit" I breathed. I knocked on the door, too forcefully and it shuddered under each thump.

"Hold your horses...!" an old voice came from inside. It was a man, he had a problem with his left leg and he was dragging something. I could hear the soft patter of an animal, I could smell the dog through the door-I knew it was a Jack Russell.

The door opened, the man peered up at me annoyed and his little dog went behind his bad leg and whimpered.

"I need water" I growled, forcing myself not to look behind me.

"Listen, there is a neighbourhood watch here..." he began and I huffed. My hand had started shaking.

"I mean... can I have some water, please" I cut him impatiently and he gave me a lovely sneer.

"Well, can you?" he pursed his lips and crossed his arms over his chest. He had been dragging an oxygen tank over the wood and had leant it against the door.

"May I?" I was using too much of my mind to stay calm, but there was enough room in me to consider backhanding him in his cigarette smelling mouth.

"Humph" he scoffed looking me up and down. "You're big" he said in contempt "And Rudolph doesn't like you" the dog was cowardly growling behind his master's leg.

"Doesn't he?" I asked. I hunkered down and looked Rudolph in the eye. His growling choked out into a soft whimper. "Shut up" I smiled at Rudolph and he shivered, laying on his side and revealing his underside. I got up and looked at the man. "I think we understand each other"

Fuck everyone being nice here...

"Hmm" he looked at his dog contemplatively "Are those friends of yours?"  
>"You obviously don't get a lot of visitors" I grumbled.<p>

"Pardon" he asked.

"Could I get that water?"  
>"Could you?"<br>"May I?" I said through gritted teeth.

"I suppose you may..."he began but I didn't let him finish, charging through his house and heading upstairs to the left side. He attempted to follow, yelping his disapproval and swearing at me but I was already in his dirty bedroom, drenched in cigarette fumes. I looked out the window to Diane's house and caught a glimpse of Diane in the kitchen, stirring a cup of something.

Poison, I thought. Renesme, I thought in the next second. I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of cyanide bringing Bronze down but Rudolph's master was working a cough inside of him from his ranting on 'intruders'.

"I need your phone" I said the moment I was downstairs.

"What?!" he glared at me.

"I need...your... phone!" I snarled, taking his packet of cigarettes and squashing them in my hand. He looked at the squashed packet like I had chocked a little kitten in my fist before glaring at me in disbelief.

"Phone's in the kitchen" he shook his head "Use it, get the water and get out..."

I had almost forgotten about the water.

The phone rang twice, and in the second I had told Seth it was me, he answered, "Can I leave now" he grumbled. "Katherine's gone off with your good for nothing son and gotten herself fired..."  
>"My imprint!" Leah's voice cut from the other end. "At least he isn't a werewolf...!"<p>

"Well, at least she isn't a... a..." there was a pause and Seth's attention came back to me. "Every time your son goes on a joy ride, he dies in some way or manner and..."  
>"Shut the fuck up and get to the house, now" I growled.<p>

"Jake?"  
>"Get to the fucking house and I'll meet you there shortly" I said shortly, cutting the phone on him before he could let out any complaint or question. I looked around the kitchen in confusion, remembering Maria in the car and subsequently the water.<p>

"I hope I never see you again!" Rudolph's dying master yelled as I moved across the lawn. He was just loud enough that the men around the black car looked at me. I ignored them and headed for the car, popping the bonnet up and pouring water over the engine before chucking the water jug indifferently into the bushes.

I got in, gave Maria one look and started the car; resolved to drive around four blocks as slow as I could manage and then get back here.

Xx~xx~xX

"Diane isn't here!" Maria yelled but I had followed my nose. I hadn't needed to go up the stairs the moment I had walked into the house. I hadn't needed to do much, except follow Renesme's honey scent into the lounge... follow her and feel my heart shudder and have the air sucked out of my lungs.

She was slouched in a leather chair, her hair a reddish veil obscuring her face and blood stained over her shirt, tubes sticking out of her and sucking blood from her into a clear drum. She wasn't moving, blood drenched ominously into her white blouse and splattered over the chair.

"No" the air was completely gone from me, the world so suddenly small and empty. I walked over to her slowly, placing each foot in front of the other as though the carpet was hiding bombs beneath it.

"I think she is..." Maria began and I growled at her, the moment I snapped my head in her direction and met her eyes, a tear escaped my eyes, and then another one and then a few more. The liquid burnt, my eyes throbbed and as I snarled "Don't you fucking say it!" my throat splintered and ripped open as my voice pushed out.

I knelt by Renesme's feet, closing my eyes and trying to force an image of her face. She would be weak and when I pushed her hair from her face, her eyes would be open when I met them, she would look at me as sadly and haughtily as she always did, but she would be alive. She would blink slowly, give a tiny smile and tell me something ridiculous on how she could take care of herself.

I looked up, pushed her hair from her face and met half opened eyes; glassy and lifeless.

"SHIT!" I pushed back from her, my heart swelling and bruising in my chest and the tears fell in a torrent, the velocity so painful. "Oh God!"

"Jacob?" Maria whispered. I was on the floor, I was crying and I was a kid again. "What do we do?"

I couldn't think. I tried to remember how I had handled Esme... how I had handled so much but I realised I had been a wolf then. Certain things, were duller and more potent as the wolf.

"Jake?" Maria's voice grew tinier, it trembled slightly but _she_ was in control while I drowned in a world where I hadn't saved Renesme, were Isabella's daughter was gone and Edward... Charles...

"Jake, they may come back?" she tried, reaching for my hand. She squeezed it and the action shook me from the past, from the reality of death.

"We have to... take her..." I forced the words out, gulping my fear. "Sorry" I told Maria and she gave me a weak smile. I got up and lifted Renesme's head gently, brushing her back carefully with my fingers. Her skin was cold and hard. Bloodless.

I removed the tubes and they fell to the ground, the blood that had been moving in them escaping and flooding the floor by Renesme's feet in a black puddle. I jumped back from this-not from disgust, but something as absurd as not wanting to taint her blood with the dirt from my shoes.

"Do we take the drum with her... blood?" Maria murmured.

I looked at the half filled drum; the blood looked like thick black soup. I wanted to hurl, I wanted to scream, I wanted to follow Lorraine's convoy and rip each of their heads from their shoulders but I also wanted Renesme alive.

"You have to be alive" I whispered, picking her up carefully. "Burn it" I told Maria.

"Excuse me?"  
>"I said <em>burn<em> it!" I growled, carrying Renesme's cold body in my arms. "The place... the blood... everything. We have to cover our traces at all times!"

She blinked at me in confusion.

"Next door, there is a man with a bad smoking habit" I said "He has a dog. He has oxygen tanks and a gas cooker... you are immortal. Embrace it. Burn this fucking place down!"

"Him... included?" she asked slowly.

"Casualties of living as he does, with an old temperamental dog and lighters all over the place. Vampires burn to nothing... we can hope that Lorraine will assume such, of a half vampire"

"But you are asking me to..."  
>"Be part of the pack" I growled. "And do what is fucking necessary. That guy was dying and miserable, there is your humanity if you are so goddamned worried"<p>

I had no compassion for him, more for Rudolph and that didn't bother me one bit.

The whole world could burn, in this moment.

Xx~xx~xX

"Jake, we can't do this right now!?" Embry hissed

"Are you seriously telling me that we can't save her?" I asked softly, watching him, daring him. He heaved once and shrugged apologetically, flipping his gaze to the outside, to the sound of worked up wolves.

"Jake, she has no pulse" he whispered. I hadn't realised I was shaking, I hadn't noticed that her body felt weak and cold in my arms, that she seemed so ridiculously broken and fragile in stillness. I looked down at her face; that ancient beauty that was so rare in the world of current, frozen and lonely on her face.

I hadn't realised so much, but most of all, I hadn't realised that I didn't care. I didn't care that I was crying, I was about to risk the safety of the whole pack if I stayed a second longer and she was dead.

But when had a still heart meant death to the Cullens?

That cold pain lodged itself in my heart again and my vision blurred with hot tears. I didn't understand this reality, were she wouldn't exist.

"Where is Charles?" I asked. My voice whipped and Embry recoiled, pursing his lips. "Where is Charles..." I asked him again.

"Leah and Seth are looking for both him and Katherine..." Embry said softly "Angela says they had been talking to the waitress with the..."  
>"Boobs" Collin filled in sombrely.<p>

"Yeah" Embry nodded "The moment they got here, they tracked her house so... that is where they should be"

"The Company is traipsing all over the place and a freaking red eyed vampire's been lurking in the shadows..."I whispered and Renesme's body shook further in my arms, something about its brokenness reminding me excruciatingly of Isabella's cliff diving experience.

How was going to tell Edward... or Blondie. How would they look at me, knowing I had failed to save Renesme... how would I look at myself. The memory of her skipping over the lawn, young and startling in her humanity hurt my mind, seared my heart...

I was shaking and this time, it was rage.

"Everyone is here!" Angela entered the room carrying bundled sheets in her arms. Her eyes were pale and round, her glasses missing from her face

"Moving Renesme would send alarm bells... even with the fire"  
>"You wanted me to leave her there?" I cringed back when my voice broke and blubbered.<p>

"It was the right thing to do, but still... you risked a lot" Angela said softly, crying with more control than I could master. I was suddenly afraid of seeing Charles-deathly so.

"I have tried contacting Dominic" Atka sighed "I can't get through to him. Leah says she has an old map of Malwood, we are ready to go, Alpha"

"Charles?" I whispered.

"Vampire shock" Angela knelt by me and brushed Renesme's cheek. "He asked for you"

I gulped.

"Jacob, get moving!" Leah entered the room, still dressing. "Charles killed Joham's child. We leave, now!"

"The fuck..." Collin breathed.

"Jake, Charles, Maria, Katherine and Angela will all go by road" Leah instructed. "We'll flank the highway as best as we can. Move!"

**Authors Note:**

**The 'vegetarian' lifestyle allowed the Cullen's better control; the same principle is applied to half vampires. Since she fed on so many humans, she had sort of fallen off the wagon and it isn't a thirst thing as much as it is more a reaction to being back on 'drugs' if you may. It would be worse for Nessie, because of her human side she would need sustenance on a more regular basis so she had the difficult task of getting of the 'drug'. Her wounds would be healed thanks to the feeding on humans on her way up from the hive.**

**Xx**

**TJ**


	5. The Road of No Return

**The Road of No Return**

**ANGELA WEBER**

**Xx~xx~xX**

The highway was sinister and soundless, trees erupting infrequently, buildings forming in through the shadows and at times, if there were woods thick enough and close enough to coddle the road; I could make out giant spectres rolling through gloom, herding the Jeep to unknown territories and daring any dangers to challenge them.

I was driving, a frozen Charles in shot gun and behind us Katherine and Maria sat jammed to one side, Jacob cradling Renesme's sheet-wrapped body in his large arms at the other side.

"How will we know what is happening outside?" I asked Jacob.

"We won't" he said softly.

"I don't know how I feel about that" I sighed.

"I trust no one better than Leah, when it comes to combat" Jacob breathed "And I wish you would understand the strength an imprint evokes in a pack"  
>"I thought you felt it was a curse?"<br>"I do" he whispered "It's a curse to the individual but its benefits to the pack are... immeasurable"

We were silent for a while, lost in our minds; I thought to tell him about Renesme's own sentiments on the imprint, how tragically lost as a rounded being she was...

"We have two imprints in the car" Jacob said "I have no doubt Seth and Leah are keeping everyone focused"  
>"Leah doesn't behave like Seth?" I asked him. Katherine was fast asleep while Maria listened intently. Jacob didn't care; he wasn't worried about much except getting the pack to Malwood-so he could deal with Renesme and Charles more thoroughly.<p>

"Well, wouldn't you say that Leah has it good; her imprint may have very well imprinted on her too" Jacob said evenly. "They feel on the same level. Its... fair like that"

"It's just... love" I sighed. I was badly inexperienced in the subject, and watching the supernatural go through the human emotion made me feel like a toddler. It changed my whole understanding of the emotion-an emotion that seemed so tangible and alive to them. As though love itself, were the heart; were the muscle pumping in their world, and one prick would see life end, and haemorrhage cheaply into the world.

Crimson wet ground and a loveless darkness.

"The kind of love an imprint allows a person is intoxicating" Jacob said dourly "Imagine having someone who would be and do anything for you? Whose happiness is so entirely tied with yours that they could never allow you to be in any form of discomfort; the thought of it would cause them pain, the act of it would hurt them..."

"Actual pain?"  
>"Actual... heart wrenching... pain" Jacob said bitterly "You see, that's why the pack have little tolerance for Renesme. She knew all this... but she kept stabbing knives in his heart"<p>

He paused and took in a sharp breath, correcting himself "Into _my _heart"

"Do you have tolerance for her, Jake?"  
>"It's like being kidnapped" he whispered. "Imprinting on her was like being kidnapped, and when I was free... I still felt... something... a thing... nothing romantic, just..."<br>"Connected" I whispered. "But she is dead now, Jake"  
>"Connected, Angela" Jacob murmured. "<em>I'll<em> tell _you_ when she is dead, not the other way around!"

We entered a large town and if it had not been for my knowledge of what a bounding polar bear looked like, I would have driven past the seedy looking motel. I parked the Jeep neatly in front of _Larry's Motel_, and waited patiently for the pack to reveal themselves.

Leah emerged from a dark corner of the building shortly, walking warily and stiffly towards us. Seth appeared too, and he over took her just as quickly, apprehension evident on his face. They were like two representatives of the imprint; what it should be, and what it was.

He reached the car, peeked at Charles side before moving to Katherine's door. He didn't open it, simply standing guard against it like a sentry. What was healthy about that? Nothing, absolutely nothing and yet I could see the appeal of having someone completely devoted to you in such a manner.

Charles on the other hand, had his door opened and the sharp chill of the outside disrupted his hair. Leah peeked at his face, frowning slightly before slamming his door angrily and moving to Jacob's door.

"He killed Joham's daughter!" she hissed the moment Jacob unwound the window. "Two human's left dead at that party, Seth's too busy in imprint mode to understand that my imprint saved his imprints life..."

"Honestly, I don't give a fuck about the sibling stuff... once again..." Jacob breathed. Leah looked down at the large bundle of Renesme in his arms, and then stared at the back of Charles head.

"I love Nessie" Leah's voice was hoarse, her eyes shining but no liquid fell out. "And I know precisely what she would have asked of me before she passed. In fact, she wouldn't have had to say it out loud; Charles, Katherine and Angela, I knew immediately when I found out"

My heart clenched and I looked away from the scene. Tears were in my eyes, in seconds they would be all over my jacket; the truth, hurt exquisitely. I had always been right; Renesme Cullen's heart, her love, had golden crimson in it.

"He saved Katherine. He saved _family_ at the expense of humans" Leah breathed "No regrets"  
>"No regrets" Jacob agreed with her.<p>

"But he broke the bitch's neck" Leah breathed "In front of a bunch of humans... then phased. That's how Seth found them... apparently a vampire had been there. I have no idea if it was Joham"  
>"Good for Charles" Jacob growled. "I would give so much to break a couple of vampires... some humans... <em>one<em> human..."

"She had asked for Angela" Leah said "Are you not seeing what this is? What this means?"

"Flora" I breathed, the faceless beauty that had disrupted my mind for _years_ coming into play. "He... killed... Flora?"  
>"She could smell you on Charles" Leah said to me. "She was to retrieve you, Angela"<br>"Not Maria?" Jacob breathed.

"Not... me?" Maria asked.

"Angela" Leah looked me dead in the eye. "So many vampires want you to be turned. Your interaction with the Cullens and Werewolves, your knowledge of the supernatural has made you the number one candidate for _venom_"

My blood froze.

"Charles saved Katherine's life" Leah said "And yours"

"We can't stay here" Jacob breathed, closing his eyes.

"Nope" Leah agreed, looking out to the car park in front of the motel. Three scantily dressed women were strutting up and down the front, eyeing the car. I knew that wasn't Leah's reason for denying us rest. "We stopped to get food and Atka is trying to reach Dominic, _again_. Dominic's last words to Atka had been that the map I had may lead us to Malwood... but not into it"  
>"Not <em>into<em> it?" Jake breathed. "Well, how does that help much if Joham is on our tails... or Lorraine... or the fucking FBI!?"

"Well, obviously Malwood aren't taking chances with this war" Leah sighed, leaning away from the car and stretching her long limbs. "There are more things in the shadows than wolves, polar bears, werewolves and vampires. Ten more minutes for you, then we move... Angela, try not to drive like an old woman?"  
>"I am old" I said bitterly. "Safely so it seems"<p>

She laughed a hollow sound that died in the air. "Joham wants you and Charles... Maria too. If nanotechnology can do what it does to vampires, imagine what genetics and bio machinery mean to these tyrants"  
>"There is nothing special about me!" I hissed, slamming the steering wheel. She looked at my hand clenched on the steering wheel, amused. "Nothing at all!"<p>

"We'll see" Leah whispered, moving away from the car and towards the prostitutes. She whistled at them and they flipped their hair in her direction, uninterested. In a second, she had completely disappeared into the shadows.

I agreed with Jacob; Leah Clearwater was a General, if Jacob Black was a King.

Xx~xx~xX

The drive out of the town was swift and silent. Katherine was out cold, Maria complaining occasionally that the young girl had a fever; neither Jacob nor I said anything on the matter. We were driving for so long, several hours in a direction that seemed to bring about more darkness; we didn't know where the moon was, how it was pushing poor Katherine's blood and mind.

Our only alarm on the unknown slumbering werewolf, was her imprint; a temperamental Seth, who had dented the bonnet during our last brief stop. I had expected Leah to do something on the matter, but she had taken Seth's bipolar anger at Charles in stride, an anger that mingled with a certain helpless gratitude that Charles had saved Katherine-somehow, I thought of the imprint between Katherine and Seth like a balloon.

One prick of Katherine's heart would be all it took to end Seth, unlike Charles and Leah who seemed to be bonded past such a trivial thing as _death_. Possibly, Jacob and Renesme's once strange imprint had connected them in such a manner too; possibly, death meant little in the face of such a kind of love.

I felt so alone. So impossibly alone and afraid; I didn't know love, I knew death so well now that it was a loving friend that I no longer feared and the devil was real. It was a strange thought, a strange sensation; but in the midst of the beauty and terror of the imprint, the misery of Renesme's cold lifeless body; I suddenly believed there was a true God... and a very real devil.

And unfortunately, he wasn't Isabella. He wasn't even Lorraine, or The Company...

Carlisle's cold black eyes flashed over my vision, the car swerving minutely.

"Angela" Jacob breathed. "I can drive if you are tired"  
>"But I can't hold a dead body in my arms" my voice was tiny as I said this.<p>

"I could drive?" Maria offered.

"You don't have a license" Jacob stated.

"How do you know that?" Maria frowned. "You... spied on me?"  
>Jacob was silent.<p>

"It's customary for the Cullens to do such things" I answered for him. I looked at him through the review mirror; he seemed withdrawn about the accusation, looking out the window with his brow furrowed and lower lip held firm. He reminded me of the time in the diner; he reminded me of our first moments of interactions... he reminded me of my brothers, that I didn't dare think on for too long.

He was a stubborn King. One that loved so freely, but seemed wary of being _in _love with the potency of the feeling in this supernatural world he was carved from. He was perfect for this darkness; he was light. He would have been perfect for Renesme's darkness if she had let him, if she had let him be as he is; a friend or whatever. She would have had the dark parts Isabella had collected through her vampirism and greed for immortality... Renesme would have had all those parts burnt to such a blistering bright inferno that the sun would be dimmed out.

"I haven't heard of Malwood before?"Maria said after a second.

"Neither have I" I told her.

"Have you?" Maria asked Jacob softly.

"No" his voice was stiff. "I haven't heard of a lot"

"We tried to research it with Atka and Leah" I said "All the information Leah had gathered had disappeared. Dominic did warn on how organised werewolf communities were. He says only the elders know the extent of their secrets. The majority of a werewolf community consists of humans, and they won't know that that is what they live in; the supernatural"  
>"There are more?" Maria gasped.<p>

"Yes" Jacob whispered. "But don't be afraid; the way Dominic is assures me that the werewolves who live like this are not like the ones from The Hive. They may not be as formidable, but inside Dominic there is less of a... rabid hunger or... maybe more of..."  
>"Humanity?" Maria asked and Jacob let out a prickly sound.<p>

"When werewolves turn... there is no _human_ left. Never try to approach one you know as a human, when it is in werewolf form" he said frigidly. "They are not like shape shifters, who merge their souls with their forms. A werewolf's soul seems to be on hiatus throughout that transformation. I don't even think they store themselves in a spirit realm like Taha Aki could. They just sort of drift dangerously in a blackness between worlds. That place must be so cold..."

"Spirit...?" I tried the word out.

"Leah told you our legends" Jacob said tersely, not willing to go down that path.

She had. Charles had mentioned something too; but it had been so interesting, so entirely implausible but the way Jacob spoke of it; he believed past the wolves of the tales.

"Speak of the devil..." Jacob sighed, leaning a little forward "Angela, stop by the side of the road"  
>"Where?" I asked him, trying to scan the area.<p>

"Look for a pair of yellow eyes" Jacob said, leaning back. In a second, I found them. Menacing things dangling in the night. A thrill ran up my spine, as it always did at the sight of the giant wolves or Atka; but it was the regal aura of them, witnessing something that had once been nothing more than fiction to me.

Nothing, like the fear looking at a werewolf.

I pulled up in front of her, for it had to be Leah... something in the glowing eyes was distinctly her. Behind her, there was dark movement. I flipped the lights to bright and made out a series of iridescent eyes blinking through a thick forest, trees so tightly knit they seemed to be a wall of wood lining the side of the road.

"Angela... I think Leah ran out of clothes" Jacob muttered.

"How does one...?"  
>"Seth is being difficult" Jacob said mysteriously. I ruffled by Charles feet, opening the duffle back and taking out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I got out slowly, the night was freezing and made my way to the large lean wolf.<p>

"Here?" I pushed the clothes out in front of me and Leah tilted her head to one side, inquisitively before looking at me closely. The wolf's lips did an odd movement, revealing a series of sharp, rather white daggers. I yelped, dropping the clothes and rushed back into the car, closing the door and locking it.

"Afraid of Lassie?" Jacob meant for it to be a joke, but it came out a statement. Maria laughed nervously instead.

"Wolves are large" she said, unabashedly watching Leah's phase.

"Have you noticed Jacob in wolf form?" I asked her, looking back at them. "Larger than Atka"

Leah walked to Jacob's side, as customary since our stops and he rolled his window down.

"We are here, boss" she said, her hot breath spanning in front of her. She signalled into the darkness, raising two fingers and in a second, a sharp hiss came from the forest and Seth and Embry walked out shirtless, a large polar bear behind them.

"Here where?" Jacob frowned out ahead of us.

"This, is the end of the road" Leah pointed in front. "Literally. The highway is cut off by the forest and a couple of miles behind, same thing goes. We have about a few miles of road and then we are trapped by trees once more"  
>"Impossible!" Jacob hissed. "The road was straight, we didn't diverge...!"<p>

"It just happened" Leah breathed peeking at Charles. "Has he said anything yet?"  
>"Uh... no" I stuttered, pettily wishing Jacob would close his window. Leah and he could hear just fine with the thing closed. I looked at Charles and remembered the gaunt man who had come to live in my apartment once, a man who had been incapable of moving and had these all seeing green eyes...<p>

He was not him, but it was there in his eyes.

"Did he... kill the vampire too?" I asked Leah.

"No" she said evenly "But he phased. Whatever they had pumped into his system at The Hive got burnt up, possibly. He will be fine. His mother died..." she looked at him again. "He killed someone that _bleeds_ in front of humans, who screamed monster at him..." she was silent for a moment, then reached her hand through Jacob's window and touched Charles hair "Superman" she chuckled furtively.

"Superman?" Jacob asked.

"He was all about Superman as a kid" she smiled sadly "He thought I was his Lois Lane..."

"Did he think he could fly around the moon?" Maria asked.

Everyone froze.

The woods were quiet, the sound of the idling car moving through that silence and above us, thick clouds hung, an iridescent glow escaping through them as they moved. Katherine moaned delicately in the back; I didn't dare look at her.

"Jake" Seth stood by Jacob's window, Embry had gone to lean imposingly by the bonnet while the white mass of Atka stood gloomily by the side of the road staring through nothingness.

"I see it" Jacob breathed.

"I don't think you do" Seth's lips twisted in a mean way.

"Renesme is dead in my arms, Charles is in shock and Katherine is about to turn" Jacob said calmly, looking at Seth's face closely. "Kid, I see it. Trust me"

"What do we do?" Embry came around to Jacob's side.

"We move through the woods" Jake said with the same calmness, something about it was resigned.

"The car will not go through that" my voice shook nervously.

"And Katherine...!" Maria cried.

"Katherine is not a problem!" Seth growled, hunching over Jake's window and half pushing his head through it. "She is _never_ a problem; not yours, or anyone. Do you understand me _little girl_?"

There was silence and I thought I saw a little knowing smile on Leah's lips.

"Seth, cool it" Jacob said after a minute. "Look, it's only Katherine. Half the pack can take care of her... the moon isn't a problem. The only problem here, Seth, is morning when your imprint wakes up confused and wants Renesme or Dominic"

Seth pulled his head out, not completely, and paled at the reminder of his unstable trust issues with Katherine. I looked back at a shivering Katherine, my body cold at the thought of a _soul _lingering for hours in a place neither tangible nor ethereal; a place, split between worlds that was so cold and dead. A light, floating there... alone and afraid, ripped to shreds by the unnaturalness of such an environment.

It made sense then, how the werewolves _always _were after the few days of transformation; broken wraiths so wary of everything. A community would know how to save such beings from tearing their tortured souls to nothing, after that. An imprint... could give so much warmth and love to a soul, and keep it from the reminder of such a pain, the reminder left only by the scabs that covered that psyche.

Werewolves without a community, without imprinters... were demons... agents to the devil; easily manipulated, easily converted to darkness.

'NGH!" Katherine's yelp shook everyone, sending Seth to her door and in a second, cold air flew into the car from her side.

"Katherine!?" Seth's hand was on her forehead, his eyes-large as they had already been-globes of white fear.

"Jacob!" Embry hissed, filling the space of Jacob's open window. He pointed up ahead, and in the middle of the highway, Annabelle Erikson stood holding a bright lamp and three men at her sides. Annabelle stared dead at us, apparently unaware of the large Polar Bear looming over her and her companions (who had begun to shake uncontrollably, looking back to the woods). She walked ahead of them, her rigidness hurt so much in its reminder of Renesme, and came to my side of the car.

"Dominic has organised men to lead you safely through..." she told me "He _begged_ me to be with them...You are not welcome, you see. When Dominic fell ill this morning, there was a dispute to cut the nightly scouts of the road and deny you entry into Malwood completely"

"So you came simply because Dominic asked you too?" Jacob asked in disbelief.

Annabelle's eyes flicked to mine. "Mostly" she turned around and called the men over. "These are Dominic's personal men. They normally see him safely to the Erikson Turning Cells. They know the woods and will lead us through them without any interaction with werewolves..."  
>"If the werewolves do come upon us, Ms Erikson" the one man stammered, shaking his head "Best believe we will do as we have always been instructed..."<br>"And run" Annabelle rolled her eyes. "Yes, you will... I know. Move the girl out of the car and take her to Dominic before the moon bears upon her fully..."  
>"What..." Seth began and Leah coughed indicatively. "Right" Seth grumbled, lifting Katherine carefully out of the car "Right" he repeated.<p>

"You cannot go with them, Seth" Annabelle said. "None of you are to be in the woods tonight. The werewolves are patrolling"

"Patrol...?" Jacob said in confusion but remained quiet. Seth handed Katherine to the one man unwillingly and followed the men a little way ahead, before letting out a loud shout in the darkness.

"I can't find them!" he came running back, flailing his hands. "I was right behind them, then I can't...!"  
>"You are not of Malwood, not a werewolf" Annabelle said simply "And you have not been invited officially by <em>her<em>. Jacob, tell your men to move behind the car... I will sit with you"

Annabelle tugged her dark coat around her, looked through the trees wearily and entered the Jeep, taking up Katherine's seat. Jacob rolled up the window, holding Renesme's body closer. I wandered briefly if a half vampire could enter Malwood. I thought Jacob had the same worry, as though Renesme's body would disappear from the car once we were through and Maria would be left lost in the trees with roaming werewolves sniffing the air for her...

"It's late" Annabelle sighed "We were trudging through there for so long. I am not a proficient map reader"

"Is the lateness going to be a real... problem?" Maria whispered.

"Yes" Annabelle sighed heavily, leaning against the window and pursing her lips "I am missing _The Walking Dead_"

"The walk...?" I began, terrified and confused.

"It's a lovely show about death" Annabelle's voice had a little more life in it as she said this. "You might want to turn your lights off, Angela"

"What?" both Jacob and I said in unison.

"Turn your lights off" Annabelle said bored. "You are wasting time; at this rate I will miss _Iron Chef too!_"

I turned the headlights off.

"Cut the engine" Annabelle instructed. I did this too. There was disturbance outside, around the car and animal sounds rolled in the night. "Tell the wolves not to fear the dark, their sight will be returned when Malwood welcomes you..."

"Don't fear the darkness..." Jacob said a little loudly.

"Switch the car on, but keep the lights off" Annabelle said next. I did this too. "Drive forward" she sighed.

"We can't see shit!" Jacob hissed.

"What's in the sheets?" Annabelle asked calmly. Jacob remained quiet. "The same way I trust that's not a manikin bomb, is the same way you should trust me not to send you ramming in a tree. Besides, only Angela and I will be killed in such an instance... and I will not die before I watch my shows tonight!"

I inched the car forward.

"Those men in there don't want to be out here, Angela... so stop driving like an old woman..." Annabelle began.

"I am not that fucking old!" I cut her sharply, pressing my foot on the pedal and the car lurched forward. It went right for the trees my mind remembered in front of us, but hit nothing, the tires moving smoothly over gravel. I slammed the breaks, suddenly, breathing hard and the car lurched forward again-this time, from a wolf slamming into it unexpectedly from my sudden stop.

I switched the lights on, not waiting for this instruction. Inches from the car, a black SUV stood facing us, the driver and the man next to him staring at us in fear.

"You almost killed us" Annabelle sighed "Dead from a head on collision, in a forest filled with werewolves and such. Really?"

"I... uh..." I couldn't breathe. I watched the car reverse back, then make a U-turn and move carefully through the darkness.

"Follow the car" Annabelle said. "You'll be staying at the Estate"  
>"Estate?" Maria asked.<p>

"Yes" Annabelle said primly. "_Angela _and _Jacob_, I suppose his bundle too, will be staying at the Estate... _you_ can occupy the guest lodges"

"You are too kind" Maria said tonelessly.

"No" Annabelle breathed. "I really am not"

"That was sarcasm" Maria muttered.

"That _wasn't_..." Annabelle yawned.

Xx~xx~xX

X

x

**JACOB BLACK**_**.**_

Did I ever see myself here?

The opulence that Dominic's family lived in was very _Cullen_. We had arrived in the house, Angela and myself, with no greeting except from two of the Erikson's staff who had shown us to our rooms. The home was large, beautiful and empty. I could hear people behind the closed doors, activity and yet... there was an emptiness that filled the mind with an image of grey loneliness.

It reminded me of Dominic's eyes and misery. I wondered how he would have been, had he had my life instead of this; a small little house filled with warmth and laughter, a family that fought and loved so fearsomely.

"You realise that carrying _that_ around is weird?" Annabelle asked me, pointing at Renesme hidden beneath the sheet, held firmly in my arms. I hadn't replied her, and she had not asked further. She was a clever girl. She gave me one careful look and disappeared into the depths of the mansion.

"Jake... I agree with her" Angela said softly. "Your intentions terrify me"  
>"You don't know my intentions" I kept my voice level.<p>

"That's the scary part" she whispered, walking away and disappearing into her room. I watched her closely as she walked away; she was in a purple tracksuit jacket and orange pants, hideous colours together. She moved wearily and dejectedly; she had no _supernatural _in her to carry this weight with more strength.

I wondered if she would break one day? I couldn't bring her back, as I knew I could with Renesme. Her only journey back here, would be death; venom.

I entered my room, and it was as the house was; cold and beautiful. I placed her on the bed, removing the sheet carefully. She was an ivory statue, her hair seemed redder against the death of her skin. I pushed the strands out around her face, marvelling grimly how the colour of her hair looked lovely against the light green silken covers of the bed.

"You didn't kill that woman, did you?" I asked her. She remained gorgeous and silent; far removed from any resemblance with Isabella with her eyes closed. The little picture that had been by her feet was in my pocket; an antiquity of a Renesme that never existed, holding a baby-holding her father, in a time so far removed from our present.

"Silly girl" I sat on the bed and her body moved slightly. "You should have fed. I know it"

I could think of all the thoughts I would endure after I did what I was about to do.

I didn't care. Maria's disapproving gaze flashed over my vision; she could let her opinion be known, just fine... but only after I had exhausted all efforts in keeping my pack intact.

"Joham must have known all about you" I sighed. "He must know about me... he couldn't kill you because I wouldn't... couldn't let you out of my sights"

"Stupid silly girl" I sighed, touching her exposed calf. It was cold. I removed my hand; her skin was smooth and hard now...

So vampire.

Bloodless, and vampire. No smell of decay was on her at all, but her heart wouldn't beat. It had nothing to beat in it, did it? Undamaged heart, just... empty.

"Sam would turn in his grave" I laughed, looking at my wrist. "You know, your mother thought he liked her a bit. Bella was so delusional; only Emily and I liked her at all. Quil couldn't stand her, until it became fun for him to try and get into her pants. Embry... Embry was so shy it hurt just watching him stumble through life at times. Seth... sunshine kid. Look at him now, giving _everyone _grief!"

"Maybe you wondered how I had been... once?" I asked her "The last time I had been truly happy was before I phased. I was like Charles a lot, when he is irritating Leah; I never let up on something I wanted. The rabbit, Bella... punching Edward in the face. God, I was stupid... I shouldn't have come to her wedding!"

"Always so fucking stupid" I sighed, bringing my wrist to my mouth and biting. "And a bitch, evidently..." I laughed, looking at the crescent bruises of my teeth. I hadn't pierced the skin. I tried again, gnawing a little and flinching from the pain.

Throw a boulder at me, shoot at me... but don't make me bite myself?!

I surveyed my wrist. Blood oozed thickly out of it, as black as it could be; crimson darkness, supernaturally potent. I remembered her feeding Charles. It was the memory of that that had led me here, and the hypothesis that had stemmed from it too.

"Silly girl and stupid boy" I whispered to her, raising her head and bringing my wrist to her lips. The blood trickled and began to slow, the skin healing. "Fuck!" she wasn't doing anything, her heart was still... would I have to bite myself a thousand time? Jam something in my artery...

"Fuck...!" I began but then I jumped back as a white hand flashed over my hand; ivory stone over my hot russet, and the hand jammed my wrist to Renesme's mouth-that gave one long painful pull and greedy suck of blood.

In three seconds, she had let out one heavy gulp and moan, the sound of a restarting humming bird heart filling the room. Her teeth cut through my skin so painfully, sharply and her drag of my blood was so strong; vampire.

It hurt.

"You can stop...!" I hissed, feeling my bones creak under her grip. She was stronger than I was, if I was in my human form. "Fuck!" I pushed her away from me and stumbled over the bed, landing on the floor.

"AHhh!" her sultry moan filled the room. I peeked over the edge of the bed; she sat in the middle of the bed, licking her lips and sucking on her blood tainted fingers, the dress Angela had changed her in spotted with blood on the front. She looked down, her eyes met mine; dark and hungered, far from sated.

"Stop...!" I commanded but there was no conviction in my voice, it trembled and droned out; I was hypnotised by her eyes, a rabbit in the headlights... a human to a vampire. She moved to me, so fast and held me to her body, off of the ground and slammed me into the wall. I was startled into some form of submission, remembering much too late that there was no need for me to allow this.

She tried to latch on my throat, snarling at me when I pushed her face to the side, terrified of the pearly teeth hidden beneath her ruby lips.

"Renesme, fucking stop...!" I hissed, but she only hissed back at me, gaining strength and turning my head to the side, licking my neck with her cold tongue before piercing my skin with her teeth. She gulped twice, inhumanly large sucks of blood before pausing and turning my head to her, her eyes more lucid now.

"You are divine" she said hoarsely.

"You are fucked up!" I yelled at her.

"I'll... be... gentler" she said absently and tilted my head back and resumed her feeding. I allowed her a few more seconds, feeling my head lighten before I pushed her viciously from me. She flew across the room, looking at me bewildered the whole time before landing on the bed painfully. The thing broke, the twirling wooden headboard shook but did not fall over her pretty little demon head.

"Enough!" I hissed. She rose up and stalked me, licking her lips. "Seriously Bronze... that's all I am offering. Not even a fucking date and you get me..."I touched my neck, then realised she had ripped the shirt off "Half naked and bleeding all over the place for you?"

"I... uh... need... a little..." her fingers twitched up to me.

"No" I said sternly. She hadn't stopped moving towards me. "I swear, if you come at me... the next time you die, I'm letting them put you in a coffin!"

She was deaf, it seemed.

"_Walking Dead!_" I hissed, pushing her off of me. She tumbled back, confused. When she came at me again, pinning me back to the wall supernaturally fast... I head butted her. This seemed to knock her to reality.

"Bronze!" I hissed.

"Don't call me that" she sulked, rubbing her forehead in confusion.

"I'll go get you a hot meal from the Erikson's kitchen or something" I said slowly. "I suggest you clean up the mess while I'm gone..."  
>"I haven't had enough blood" she whined.<br>"Oh yes you have!" I breathed, pointing at her accusingly "You're alive and kicking, aren't you?"

I left her in the room, closing the door slowly and praying no wandering butler would think to check up on the guests. If I had been human, I would have been _very _dead right now.

"Mr Black?" a frail woman stood at the other end of the hallway, clutching her nightgown to her. "I heard sounds...?"  
>"Uh..." I looked at the shut door hiding Renesme, then down at my naked torso. "Working out?"<br>"Did you change into a giant wolf?" the woman-old enough to be my mother-giggled. This shocked me; I didn't think anyone but Dominic or Annabelle would know, in this house at least.

"My name is Anna Erikson" the woman smiled warmly "I am Dominic's mother and I am very pleased you kept my children safe, Mr Black"  
>"Jacob" I said softly.<p>

"Good Night, Mr Black" Anna Erikson had not heard me and shuffled back up the hallway, laughing to herself.


	6. The Perfect Art

**THE PERFECT ART**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

**RENESME CARLIE CULLEN**

I had never died.

I was born into immortality, raised towards it and here I am. There had been no passage walked, no bright light at the end of a tunnel, no dark seduction enticing my soul. There had never been a time when my immortality needed proving either, save for the fact that I didn't age and illness was too rare to be considered.

I had never died... and this made me feel, newborn.

"You are going to eat that" he commanded pressing a towel to his neck and gingerly raising it up. The skin was smeared black ruby, crusted at some places and deliciously wet in others. I looked at the food he had brought. "Don't frown at it, eat it Bronze..."

"Don't call me that" I said. My voice was sulky and I hated that he brought that out of me.

"I'm taking a shower" he sighed resignedly giving me one last glance that revealed nothing of his thoughts except that I had tried his patience enough; consorting with a human, audaciously being an idiot and then carelessly dying...

Heavens, I had put him through hell and he was not going to be denied a shower after all of that...

He walked away and into the bathroom, switched on the shower and removed his pants. I heard him step into it-the shower would be blazing hot, just as he liked it-and just under the sound of the concentrated rain fall of hot water, he let out a heavy long sigh.

I wondered if he would be leaning against the tiling, his hands spread against the tiles and head hung under the water. That was how he would shower after a long day; stand like that for minutes before remembering his body had to be cleaned.

I looked at the food again; a sloppy burger. He had made this himself, I recognised him in the ridiculous excess of the burger. It was piled with things, the patty overlapping the bun and dripping oil and juices around it.

I looked back to the door, to the bathroom and listened to the water, remembered the trickling of his blood before I dragged it up from his heart and pulled it through his veins in one unforgiving _suck_.

"Fucking burger!" I yelled at the food and picked the plate up, tossing it across the room. It smashed against the wall, plate falling to the ground and the burger slid down the wall to join it. There was a brief pause of water from the bathroom and then it continued.

He wasn't entertaining me.

It really did feel like being born again; like I had been in a deep slumber in the warmth of my mother's womb, or coddled in heaven, maybe hidden in a nook of hell; and so suddenly snatched from that safety or security and flung into this reality once more.

I was not weak. I could understand the workings of what had happened to me easily; my own blood had been missing from my body, my heart held whatever was left but had been shocked into a standstill, my skin would lose warmth and with no blood in it, it would harden further; a form of defence against nature or the unnatural maybe; all that was human had been in the drum, after all.

In death, I would appear vampire. She should have burned my body to ash.

"You didn't like the burger?" Jacob asked exiting the bathroom in a towel, while harassing his hair into dryness. I scowled at him, sure to look at his face and turned my head sharply to glare safely at the oil and sauce smudge on the wall. "I really tried, you know"  
>I knew he had and <em>that <em>and everything else made me suspicious of him.

I turned my body around and busied my eyes with other things while he dressed. His heart was raised slightly; I wasn't one of the pack, I was no Leah and a part of me wondered if he would have minded had it been Maria in this room. Silly thoughts considering I had just risen from the dead; but one should accept their silliness at times.

"This place is lovely" I said after a minute "Where are we?"  
>"Malwood" he said going over to the dirtied wall. He was in cargo pants and a t-shirt, his hair still wet and dark skin silken. He hunkered by the plate and quietly scooped the shards up, food included.<p>

"Oh, it would be nice to see this Dominic fellow properly" I said cordially, trying to hide my shame at my insolence. I wished he would say something mean about the plate being smashed and food wasted but he remained silent the whole time, discarding the contents in a little bin.

It was unnerving and maybe he didn't understand or remember the meaning of giving blood willingly, to a vampire. Or at least, how half vampires felt about it; he wasn't human. He wasn't a morsel or a walking blood bag.

Had he given Maria his blood? My heart thumped hard twice and for a second I thought it had stood still. Shocked into death, betrayed…

Betrayed? Funny thing to think I should feel, I had no grounds for such. I knew that… or did I… I fought to catch my thoughts, hold my emotions; his blood was not human, distinctly so and my brain buzzed with thoughts and ideas and scenarios…

"Full moon just started" Jacob wouldn't look at me, rustling through the dresser for something. "I doubt I'll be able to hold a meeting with him just yet. Annabelle said something about 'werewolves patrolling', so when its day time, I'm pretty sure he is knocked out somewhere"  
>"Werewolves don't patrol!" I laughed. He cringed back at the loudness of my laughter while I blushed at how my nonchalance had taken a turn for weird; he wasn't a mind reader and I wasn't a bumbling human. There was nothing to be nervous about; he was <em>young<em>, didn't know the full sociology of vampires and thought of blood as simply as blood. He had permanent amnesia, he wouldn't know the meaning of his actions "They do nothing but kill!" I smiled.  
>"And yet Raul commands them in South America albeit with the collars but similar principle?" he turned around and faced me, his expression serious. He was holding a brush over his head and pulling indifferently at his hair. He brushed his hair while pacing the room and I watched him, trying to overlap him with <em>my<em> Jacob.

There were similarities, things I never noticed months ago; but they all came from the Jacob who had not been my husband. The one who still spoke to Leah, who went swimming with me in the lake...

My heart panged. I had hurt this man and every time he breathed I would remember and every time I breathed he wouldn't care for it.

"I had an interesting talk with Angela about this" he sat at the edge of the bed "These are creatures whose souls have nowhere to rest when they transform. I think in Malwood, the werewolves' souls rest in _Malwood._ This place is not operating in the same way as the outside world. This is no 'little town' and I am sure it never was, even when Leah had come here. The town is guarding its self, and its people and has only their interests at heart"

"J.K Rowling" I muttered to myself, rolling my eyes. "Are you listening to yourself?"  
>"You just woke up from the dead" he turned his head, raising an eyebrow "I suggest you listen to me closely. We are not wanted here as it is so keep the pomposity to a minimum..."<br>"I am not pompous"  
>"Charles will be happy to see you… but I have told him a little later on" Jacob began putting on <em>shoes.<em> "You stay in here, do you hear me?"

"In here where?" I frowned looking around the room and he sighed, throwing his hands in the air.

"Renesme" he said sternly "I need to know you won't… _eat_ anyone. I mean…" he pointed at his healed neck "You had more than a whole person, I think"

"Your hearts beating a little faster now" I told him and his eyes widened. I hadn't meant to say that out loud. I wanted to clasp my mouth and _die _again but "Adrenaline" came out of my mouth next "It sweetens blood" I finished and _then_ the instruction to clasp my mouth with my hand was received by my body and I covered my mouth.

He swallowed, hand still awkwardly touching his neck and eyes round and in shock. He was staring right at me while I stared at the patch of neck hidden under his hand. Both our hearts were beating fast; my own thrumming one threatening to drown out the heavy strong sound of his heart beat.

"You aren't still…" he removed his hand and looked away from me, nervous… maybe disgusted and confused.

"I am not thirsty" I whispered. Would this be the part I told him the fascinating thing about his blood? That it didn't taste the same as I remembered? Maybe he had a condition and he needed to know, maybe… "Your blood tastes different"

I wasn't ready to tell him that. I clasped my mouth and he looked around the room as though my sanity had been misplaced somewhere and he sought to find it for me.

"You've had my blood before?" he asked slowly, now determinedly staring at the grease stained wall.

"A little" it was sort of true. "You had been bitten by a vampire" that was half a lie, I was half a human. "I only said it to alert you. Maybe you are… _sick_"  
>"I feel fine" he said through gritted teeth "A little light headed and spooked, but fine"<p>

"Spooked?"

"Weirded out" he explained.

"Oh"

"You won't need any blood, right?" he asked nervously "People around here will be… er, safe right…?"  
>"I won't need blood in a while" I whispered and he nodded, visibly more relaxed.<p>

"Uh, don't tell anyone about this" he pointed between the two of us "Just… you woke up"  
>"Sure, sure"<p>

"I have to go tell the guys not to go into the woods, even in the day time" he sighed, much brighter and relaxed now "I trust you not to… die again and eat anyone"  
>"Like I assured you" I said stonily.<p>

"Bye!" he practically ran out of the room. I fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, the words 'spooked' and 'weirded out' flashing over my million thoughts.

Xx~xx~xX

I didn't stay in the room as _commanded_.

My shower had been relaxing up until I realised I had no clothes to wear. Jacob's clothes consisted of four t-shirts and two pairs of jeans and surprisingly five boxers. This made me nervous; _boxers_. How long had I been dead for…?

And were they bought before or after Maria had parasited herself into _my_ world.

I was in a quandary; my mind had somehow chosen this point in time to remember my Jacob so explicitly and to remember what it had meant to be _his. _Wearing his t-shirt would mean something but then again, I was over thinking it.

When was I not over thinking it?

The wolves would not confuse it at all; it would be a simple sign of disrespect on my part to their wonderfully delicious Alpha… I smelt his shirt and realised I couldn't wear it. It would be just long enough, I could use the belt on my dirty dress to tie it into a pseudo fashion piece… oh, I could have made it work but… something wasn't right.

I needed to stop thinking about Jacob, his blood and the past. I would never taste him again nor should I want to and it wasn't my fault he had turned sweeter over time. I needed to snap out of it.

"I need air" I sighed, wearing the dirty dress with the blood spots. I opened the door slowly and peeked out; the house was large, I could hear it but the wood and furnishings gave proof that it was also ancient. I closed the door carefully, aware of what my dress looked like and the fact that I was barefoot.

Along the passage, mounted in intervals were various portraits of men; young miserable looking men with far away gazes. It was a long wing, with many doors and at the end of it, there were two turns. I chose the left, feeling the cleaner air moving from it.

I had been in manors and castles but never a human one; never one that had the character of this one. Humans and their ability to decorate with _emotion_, as though it were a ruffle or vase that could be placed on a table; it was a lonely house, not from lacking inhabitants but warmth; and yet that coldness was still decidedly human once more. It was a separate cold, one that spoke; sorrows and regrets. Scandals and passion.

It was _his _portrait that halted my careful walk through the hallways; Dominic Erikson stared miserably at his painter. He was as pale as I had remembered seeing him, the lonely coldness of the house somehow radiating around his form. He was handsome and weak, nothing like the tall grim werewolves I knew off; neither Katherine nor him had that… hunger and cruelty that carried through the werewolf all the way to their human forms.

I could feel the man staring at me as I stared at Dominic, I had heard his approach.

"Dear…" he said, his voice rich and low. I turned sharply, expressing delicate surprise and fumbled with my hands.

"I apologize" I said immediately.

"You're a friend of… my son's?" he asked, walking over to me slowly. I saw Dominic in him immediately, but everything the werewolf gene had sapped out of Dominic was evident in his regal father. Dominic would have been an impressive man if his body and soul were not taxed so much…

He stood beside me and looked up.

"I noticed the years between Dominic's portrait and the last" I pointed at the one beside Dominic's gingerly.

"You understand art and style?" he asked not looking at me.

"Yes" I said "I studied it a bit"

"One hundred and… twenty or so" he squinted his eyes trying to remember "Let's put it at a hundred, shall we?"

"Hmm"

"There is normally only one werewolf at a time in a family's line… mine had two but I hear you lost the poor bastard" he said casually and I stiffened, but he wouldn't notice it. He pointed at the old worn painting beside Dominic's "That is my grandfather. Died as he looks, young and tired"

"My family… well, we have come a long way" he smiled "Dominic has come a long way… he looks… like he may not die as young and tired as he should"

"My name is Rene" I told him.

"Philip Erikson. You are very beautiful Rene and your beauty spreads light in this home" he smiled, his eyes twinkling. "I was hoping to speak with a Mr Black but it seems he has gone were I cannot follow; the cottages! Please, feel free to explore were the doors do open… and I hope to speak to you again, sweet Rene"

I watched him walk away, slightly disoriented by his presence. He was human and _not _a werewolf but at the same time he was _not _entirely _normal._ What were the limitations of being human in this world; a simple beating heart and fallibility to injury? If this town was what Jacob suspected it to be, then I would say that Philip Erikson was _no ordinary human._

Xx~xx~xX

Annabelle was not prepared to see me.

She looked around her in fright; I could tell she was praying for there to be another person, another distraction for me. It was an entirely human reaction I had seen countless times when I planned on feeding from a human to their death; it's in the eyes, Nahuel had told me.

Everything is in the eyes, for humans. You could speak straight to their hearts by simply gazing into their eyes; what Nahuel forgot was how we were half human and such a thing could happen to us to; such a thing could be done to each other.

I wasn't planning on feeding from her; the taste of Jacob's blood hung heavily on my tongue and the thought of any other taste tainting that (that silly burger for instance, that filled me with shame and warmth) was blasphemy right now. I dreaded to think how the 'cranks' of thirst would be bad when Jacob's blood was finally less in content than my own, in a few weeks.

I raised my hand, ignoring Annabelle's uneasiness and looked at the veins on the back of my hand. His blood was flowing in there, mingling with my own. I flexed my fingers and felt _strength._

"Renesme" Annabelle said finally. She sat like the princess I realised she was, perfectly poised and prim in the reading room, holding up a book on _ducks._

"The young and proper Ms Erikson" I smiled at her. She rose up and smoothed her dress, immediately reminding me how filthy I looked; how filthy I had looked in front of Philip! I felt like _Elizabeth_ except I had no sisters or the prospect of a _Mr Darcy_.

"We have never really spoken, you and I" she didn't smile back.

"No, but you did get to see me floating in a tank" I clasped my hands in front of me, attempting to hide the spots on my dress. "Good times"

"I was unaware you were here" she whispered.

"And now that you are, what will it mean to you" I asked softly, taking a step forward.

She looked around again, that little eye-dance that translated to a scream for help.

"You came with Jacob" she said slowly "You were with Jacob… in the sheets"

I blanched. "No!" she shrunk back, the windows wobbling at my outburst. "I mean… no" I said softer, feeling thoroughly uncivilised. "He slept on the chaise"

"I meant you were the manikin wrapped in sheets" Annabelle rolled her eyes, momentarily forgetting I could snap her neck in less than a second.

"He wrapped me in sheets?" I asked softly, forgetting my plea not to think of Jacob and being filled with the unsteady anger of a supernatural. "Were they cotton or linen?"  
>"Oh, they were definitely worn cotton ones with little yellow daisies…" she said pursing her lips. I knew the ones; Angela had bought them back in Pebblestone and was strangely attached to them.<p>

"Hmm" I couldn't speak, utterly admonished by Jacob's actions (my sheets were pure silk, why not wrap me in that?) and this satisfied Annabelle into ease.

I couldn't stop thinking on what would have happened had they found the bin bags… Oh, I bet if Maria had known were they are (it would require her accepting she isn't a house guest in our reality)…

"I saw your son" Annabelle resumed reading her book calmly "He looked like a statue yesterday but I hear he is all _movement _today. Must have everything to do with your own burst of animation?"  
>"I am not used to humans like you" I said sitting down slowly on a cushy ottoman.<p>

"In the spirit of our lovely time together in the laboratory…" she was flipping through pages too fast, nervous besides her cool and detached demeanour "I suggest you do nothing that suggests you _aren't _human or wolf whilst in Malwood. We just love a good vampire bon fire in these parts… and trust me, we would be able to hold one very easily"  
>"Is that a threat?"<br>"It's a fact…" she lowered the book "And friendly advice. There has never been a vampire here and there shouldn't be one. Do you understand? My brother invited you in here and it will be his head on the line"  
>"Your father seemed nice and pleasant, it obviously isn't a family disposition"<p>

She laughed, hard, as though I had said the funniest thing in the world.

"We should take a stroll to the ponds and feed the ducks in this lovely sunlight so Philip can see you more clearly from his office window…" she shut the book enthusiastically "And I'll tell you all about my conniving charming father"

"I may like you" I told her.

"I like your son" she told me. "It'll cancel each other out"

Goodness, I was dead for too long…

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**ITALY, **_**VOLTERRA **_

Littered all over the world are little cocoons of beauty, forced to stand in the midst of the ugliness that breathing creatures bring... breathing, or otherwise. How could we ever think ourselves so grand, when it was _men_ that had created such art, such splendour... these humans, and their minds.

Humans and their little souls, far superior to us in their sight and design of these cocoons. We didn't understand loveliness of this form; we understood the shadows that lived next to their little havens; we were like a peeping tom to their little souls, always envious and curious. In the shadows, was where we were.

In the shadows, was where we belonged.

"Do you think it possible they have missed our arrival?" Rosalie asked softly. We were seated in the depths of a little restaurant, cooling food in front of us and eyes hidden behind sunglasses even with the absence of sunlight.

"I don't know any longer" I told her honestly. "It is possible that they are wary; after all, Alice is a jailbird and Jasper is most ruthless about _his_ Alice. And Aro knows how I love my pixie, and would you have wanted to part from the little fashionista?"

"You suspect the fear of vengeance is what keeps them far from us, then?" Rosalie pursed her lips, readjusting her sunhat, tilting it to one side. "I do love vengeance"  
>"I know, sister" I touched her hand briefly and smiled at her. "You are particularly good at it too"<p>

"You and I know that Aro is too pompous to find such a little thing as vengeance threatening" Rose laughed after a minute "But it's a lovely possibility that I shall cherish until the revelation of their absence is upon us"

"Maybe they just don't give a damn about us anymore! We may have lost our _appeal..._" I laughed, looking over to the table Isabella sat at. She had unfortunately worn a hat similar to Rosalie's, and had placed it on her table, glaring at it in offence. As beautiful as she was, as much as venom had made her so close to dastardly perfection; she couldn't match Rosalie's ability to wield as frilly a thing as a _sunhat _like it were a tiara.

"They give a damn about _her_" Rosalie said seriously, removing her sunglasses and narrowing her eyes at Isabella. "Oh, if I were Jane... I would be dragging her through the streets, back to Aro and plucking away at her mahogany hair... strand by strand, continuously until she were bold for a few weeks"  
>"Vengeance, is surely <em>your<em> art!" I laughed but Isabella had not found Rosalie's morbid wit as entertaining as I had, and had turned her chair completely in the opposite direction so she wouldn't have to face us( civility on the situation was called, for I was unsure on how playful Rosalie was being, even from her thoughts).

"Sir?" the waiter stood stiffly by our table, trying to focus his eyes on my face and not Rosalie's dangerous beauty revealed as the sunhat and sunglasses were removed, blonde hair spread out about her like a lion's mane. "Is everything okay?"  
>"A glass of water for me and a collection of your red wine for the lady" I smiled at him. "Bring a long list, my man, she has vengeful taste buds for red today"<p>

He smiled and moved away from the table, his thoughts swirling with Rosalie's face and my voice. Little men, so artful with their creations; havens, monuments and nasty _nano-guns_... the reminder of the little bullets sent my mood into a dour spiral quickly, and Angela Weber had to remind me that humans... were human.

But maybe, that was all it took for such atrocious display of barbarism; one had simply to be human once, to know cruelty. Or was it that cruelty came first...

"You are frowning" Rosalie smiled, this time it was her who touched my hand "Is being nice to me so difficult?"  
>"I haven't forgotten that today is your Royce day" I answered her hidden thoughts. "The day you died?"<br>"The day I lived" she raised my hand and brought it to her cheek, rubbing it there gently. "We have come a long way, brother?"

"So long" I whispered, a little of my fear (I couldn't deny it, I feared the dithering mortals now) wilting away into obscurity as our past surfaced freely from so many seconds and minutes upon hours of immortal memory index.

"I thought you were an angel when I looked on your face, that first time when you and Carlisle had come to that gala" she laughed "Do you remember?"  
>"More than you" I said, prodding my food with the fork. "I had been very vampire then while you had been annoyingly human..."<br>"Spoilt and indulged" she sighed. "I hated how beautiful you were, and yet I stood mesmerised under that chandelier, watching you frown at all the girls as they gave you attention" she looked at me ruefully, pressing her lips together to keep from laughing at me "You know, I found myself jealous of the girls... not for being around you, but that they found _you_ fascinating! And I was so angry with myself for being pulled into such a similar lack of nous over a pompous boy!"

"I hadn't been paying too much attention to you then to note your thoughts" I smiled at her. "I do suppose you and I were very alike as humans"

"Unfortunately, you witnessed my weakness as a human... and subsequently forever more through your horrendous gift" she pouted, prodding her food in a similar fashion as I did mine; little flicks and jabs and occasional raising of the fork; the restaurant floor was expertly bombed with food as our plates depleted 'mysteriously' of contents.

"It is you that has a horrendous gift of knowing precisely how to annoy, dear sister"

"It comes from living with you for so long" she sighed. "Or is it dying with you? Being dead with you... regardless, we had our wildness and our fair share of boredom"  
>"It had been so dire before Emmett joined us, hadn't it?" I laughed. "At least you were spared Carlisle's dithering infatuation for Esme..."<p>

We were silent for a while, and I shared Rosalie's memory of our one fight over something so trivial as my placing my piano in the middle of the guest lounge (my argument had been we had no guests...ever), and Esme and Carlisle telling us to 'grow up or get married', in not so many words.

Rosalie had been livid; she was a new born, permanently spoilt in character and felt she was due more attention from me and had set the bar on that at 'worship and adoration, minimum requirements'. After all, she and I were wondrously beautiful, and on some days... she felt she was even more so.

I had exited the fight at the suggestion of a romance with Rosalie but it had not been enough; Rosalie was not satisfied with that victory. She wanted to see pain, some form of it, actual physical submission and not an 'exit'.

The piano had been broken, splintered and then set ablaze by my little garden. Esme had been upset with Rosalie, telling her of 'lady like conduct' and 'managing ones anger delicately'. Carlisle had found Rosalie amusing in her ability to keep me from brooding in the house; at times, I felt permanently evicted by her cruel teasing and it was this that had seen me take refuge in trees.

We had been an odd family then... and I realised, strangely human. Carlisle and Esme, they did that to us. They kept that humanness at the forefront. Now... we were lost, driven to fear by the discovery that our humanity was not what we thought it was; after all, the perfect lesson on the matter came from the humans.

And my, they dealt us a seminar on it.

"I miss them" Rosalie sighed, dropping her fork in misery and leaning on my arm. I wound it around her and brought her closer, watching Isabella. She could hear us, of course.

I hoped the remorse she _should_ feel would make her eyes bleed silver, one day... and then red, and then she would be human and perfectly barbaric.

"There is one theory on the Volturi ignoring us that I am considering" I said.

"What would that be?" Rose sighed resignedly.

"They don't want to be seen" I whispered. "These, are dangerous times for our kind... after all"

"Edward could be right" Isabella appeared by our table, proficiently ignoring the vision of me comforting Rosalie and pulling out a chair. She sat down languidly, sighing wearily and crossed her legs in front of her. "Or maybe, not all the Volturi are here? Or maybe we are sitting here reminiscing on our fabulous childhood and Jasper, Em and Alice have found counsel at the Towers?"

"If they have... Alice will call" I raised my phone off the table. "And if they have, and Alice can't call... it will mean nothing with you and I out here, Isabella. Aro loves to play civil, you know this"

"Oh, she knows exactly how Aro plays" Rosalie straightened up and dabbed her dry eyes gently. She was always so amusing in her 'little womanness' when she was a fearsome thing in truth.

"And after we do see them?" Isabella asked.

"We ask them for help on Carlisle" I said as calmly as I could, for I had been repeating that purpose to Isabella for the duration of our travel to Italy.

"Aro _will_ help" she smiled "But for himself. If Carlisle is found, he will be far removed from our coven and into the Guard... possibly, even replacing Marcus in the power soon after that. Carlisle's discovery and retrieval by the Volturi will do _no one_ any good"  
>"I prefer an undying evil that's too lazy to continue with its itinerary than the toddler mortal one that's bouncing with enthusiasm to complete its cause!" I snapped.<p>

"You _always_ know best" Isabella scowled.

"Much better than to send my daughter to Joham!" I hissed. "Or fall in love with my daughter's lovers...!"

"Now that would have been a perfect, fucking twist if you had...! It would have explained the honeymoon performance..." Isabella snarled.

"I got you pregnant in a week, and you gave birth in a few months...!" I laughed "I think my _performance _was exceptional... considering..."  
>"Considering what?!"<br>"Your _wide _vagina" I scoffed "You going to tell me it was horseriding that opened you up?"

"Probably wolf riding" Rosalie muttered, forgetting her chant not to get involved.  
>"I could have had Jacob!" Isabella snarled. "I would have chosen him had you not <em>glittered<em> all over the goddamned place!"

"You could have had Billy, too!" I laughed. "Then you could have been wheelchair riding too..."

"Er, humans... public... Volturi" Rosalie grumbled. "Could you do this some other time? As much as they have been missing in action, let's not give Jane another reason to smile beside the fact that we lost our father!"

"Some other time, then" I conceded as the water arrived, the waiter attending to Rosalie's wine choices.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

She had named her son's from the bible. They were the only two with English names on their birth certificates in the village, and any other's had only received baptism names. This filled her with pride as well as the fact that John had travelled. John had gone into the world; into the big City!

John had come back, John had been damaged, John had almost lost his faith and John had forgotten the ways of their people. Only as a mother could, she knew, her son was scarred so deep it would never heal completely.

"He is weak" Peter growled, sharpening the stick rhythmically with his knife. He was scowling deeply, anger so long rested in his heart that it was explosive; she feared him, she feared Peter for John. "He is weak and broken; he has no faith. He will be useless on this expedition with the Englishman"

"You wanted the money, Peter" she whispered "We need the money" she hissed "We can't stay here… we are Christians and the man is a missionary is he not?"  
>"He is" Peter scowled . "A priest in our village and he is not allowed to stay in our village! They kicked out a man of God…"<p>

"Listen, I heard Kilpa's boy talking… he had taken some Australian explorers further" she took out a dirty cloth and opened it "I tried to draw a location…"

Peter looked over to her and frowned at the coordinates and scribblings "Eh…" he laughed "That's too far" he shook his head "Much too far. We take them to places we have been"  
>"Kilpa's boy was there!" she said.<p>

"No, he hasn't" Peter took another stick and began sharpening it "The savages have; Kilpa's a coward… bigger one than John"  
>"John braved the City"<br>"John feared the jungle!" Peter snarled, dark anger twisting in his heart so he gripped the spear mercilessly, and John walked in and met Peter's dark eyes, looked at the weapon pointed upward.

"I have heard… Kilpa and you are right; he heard it from the tribes lost in the jungle. He speaks their language" John told his brother softly, walking into the hut carefully. He sat down by his mother and hugged her briefly "We can't live like this, brother. Our mother deserves the life she had before father took her and brought her to this"  
>"And why not bring that for her from your adventures?" Peter sneered.<p>

"I was in hell, brother…" John shook his head "I saw… demons. Strange things"  
>"Peter, you should take him to the priest!" their mother smiled "He can help you, I know he can!"<p>

"I don't need a priest" John smiled, touching his neck scarred neck briefly "I need God himself"

"Coward" Peter resumed sharpening his sticks.

"Yes" John agreed, now touching the slanting scar on his wrist; a half followed through decision on leaving the earth.

"What were you doing there!?" Peter demanded.

"I worked… at a club… called _Help!_" John whispered.

**AUHTORS NOTE:**

**Just a quick flashback to They Set Out To Kill Fate; Help! was the name of the club owned by Joham, were Nessie was rescued from.**

**RESPONSES:**

**Nessie is not a full vampire; I sort of thought of half vampires in a Vampire Diaries sort of way. Basically, drain them they weaken… drain them too much, they go into a 'comma'. I realised that half vampires are a lot more fun than vampire vampires because well, they have a **_**special **_**need for blood and thus, a different understanding of it from vampires or humans. *hint***

**Malwood just interests me as this enchanted town; I did briefly post a new story based on it but I took it down as I hadn't thought of a plot fully. I will put that back up when inspired enough; to anyone interested in a story were Edward Cullen is still brooding but as a werewolf. Pairing would be Edward/Leah though. **

**Hahaha, eh Embry. Unfortunately, he is about to be up to no good again soon…**

**Hehehe…**

**Thoughts, suggestions, criticism… it always **_**Helps**_**!**

**See what I did there…**

**Xx**

**TJ**


	7. Holding on to the Past

**HOLDING ON TO THE PAST**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

They sat in silence in the back seat of the SUV. Diane's mind twisted with Rene's face, with the sound of the young girl growling like a wild cat, the image of hunger shining in her eyes. She couldn't get over the beauty, the truth of the creature; immortal and exquisite.

She tried to quieten the feeling rising up from her heart; fear of what she had done in the name of immortality. She stilled the tornado with reminders of how _they_ were _evil_.

"This is how we survive, Diane" Lorraine said cut through their silence "We return evil with evil. These creatures do not understand things like _love_ and _kindness_…"

"She may have survived..." Diane whispered. "Rene could have survived"

"Do not fret" Lorraine sighed "The odds are against her... Joham has either found her body or finished her off by now" Lorraine paused, hacking in disgust "I'll let Joham deal with those _Cullen _vampires and when he has finished them; I'll retrieve his grand-offspring. She is after all, more human and thus far superior in sanctity. She can be rescued and rehabilitated…"

"The vampire…" Diane stammered "The vampire you showed me was wild. A demon. I don't know if I want to be like that"  
>"You won't be like that" Lorraine smiled "You are one of a few humans who will utilise vampirism for the benefit of The Company"<p>

"Yes but…"  
>"If you don't want it any longer, I understand" Lorraine smiled "We can relocate you, give you a new identity and you can carry on as old as you are… as ordinarily dying as you are"<p>

Diane remained silent, looking out her window. The glass was tinted but she could make out the outside world; street lights, buildings and unassuming people.

"Or you could be rewarded as promised" Lorraine said gently "And you will dance as you have never danced before. You will be beautiful, more than even that half demon"

She didn't mention the part were Diane's beauty would see her be a fully fledged fiend. It didn't matter, they needed evil to stop evil; they needed vampires to stop vampires.

"Won't it hurt?"

"Everyone knows that beauty and greatness requires _some _pain"

Diane shuddered, rethinking her contract with Lorraine. A piece of her heart ached; she had recognised herself in Rene and she was failing to deny it to herself. Had she not understood Rene's anger, misery and hope for love and acceptance? Did demons feel such things...?

Lorraine didn't give Diane a chance to drown her anticipation of the impossible in her growing conscious, retrieving her phone from her breast pocket and flipping it open, punching in numbers quickly before pressing it to her ear "The _good _Doctor Cullen" Lorraine laughed.

Diane watched as Lorraine nodded and laughed, responding to Doctor Cullen in a series of blush riddled answers.

She was beginning to realise she was in over her head.

"Carlisle" Lorraine said firmly, her mood shifting considerably "You _will_ stay in Peru. You _will_ be what you used to be for this purpose and you _will_ retrieve the artefact before either Raul or Joham discover its location… That is final!"

The phone was shut and with her face twisted in annoyance, Lorraine snarled "I prefer my _vampires _a little _less_ emotional!"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**JACOB BLACK**

"There is very little to understand, Mr Black..."

I didn't know how I felt about being called 'Mr Black'. Philip Erikson is an impressive man; from his age, his looks, his wealth to his aura... easily an Alpha, and maybe that's why I am suspicious of him. Leah says he is a sleaze, but she is compromised; any guy who finds her attractive and isn't Charles, is a sleaze.

This is messy. He is smiling and at ease because he knows that this is messy; messy for me, messy for my pack and messy for Renesme. We are at his mercy and I can't tell if he is sincere with his concern or nice about his cruelty.

"Our woods are sacred" he smiles, raising his whiskey glass and tilting it in the sunlight. It is much too early for him to be drinking, I am sure but it isn't my concern. The Erikson's strange family dynamics are not of my concern the same as I would not tolerate Philip Erikson instructing me on instructing my pack. "We have traditions, we have laws... and this, is something that has not occurred in Malwood in _years._"  
>"By years you mean centuries?" Leah asked folding her arms over her chest. She is failing to hold her insolence inside her and it seeps out with each cock of her hips, each sultry sneer. He sees it, of course he does because Philip Erikson is an Alpha and one without <em>physical<em> power; he relies on perception, he relies on his guile-he is dangerously cunning and that turns him into a disturbing ally.

"Leah" Philip smiles at her freely, finally taking a sip of his whiskey with his eyes glued to Leah. Hunger glints in them and I am grateful for Charles absence. Embry gives me an indicative look.

They don't know how strong we are, I want to tell him. He should not let Philip Erikson's cockiness irk his spirit. Our only strength was Dominic and we were in no position to get out of the town; Joham and his half vampires, Lorraine and her guns, Werewolves and their blood lust...

I had to be a little like Philip; cunning and shrewd, ever watching. Malwood was one big chess board and I wasn't certain what exactly was at stake, besides our lives but it was obvious there was more; why else would they let us in and continue with their meetings on us? They wanted something.

They _needed_ something from us...

"I have instructed my pack not to go into the woods until we can meet with the rest of the elders... as you requested" I say slowly and Philip's smile falters slightly. He takes a longer sip of his drink, watching me carefully before placing the glass down on his desk. He sits on the edge of the desk, folding his hands over his legs and tilting his had thoughtfully.

"I don't see why you _need _the woods?" he asks. He looks at Leah instead, gauging _her _reaction against my words.

"We are wolves" I say. He waits for more but I only look at him impassively, controlling my annoyance at these long games of his. We are wolves, we need the woods because we love them, we need the woods so we can run free and long and blend with nature; we need to phase because we become restless and aggravated when our spirits are contained for too long.

He wants to hear all of this but it's too much information for someone as cunning as he is.

"Yes, wolves and woods... it goes together doesn't it?" he asks through a sneer "I don't see how you are different from werewolves?"  
>"Surely Dominic has explained it?" I ask and he shakes his head.<p>

"Dominic!" he says loudly, his voice thrown against the walls of his fancy office. His sneer deepens, his eyes darken and he raises his glass high, the edge glinting sharply in the light "A fine Erikson if ever there was!" he drinks, long and hard, gulping down the whiskey and flinching a little when he is done. Embry had been right; the man had been tipsy to begin with.

"He was wonderful last night..." Philip continues, his control now thread bare and wiliness drowned in whiskey "Just wonderful..." he finishes miserably, moving from the desk to throw his body in his chair. He glares at the empty glass, shaking his head none stop.

"We could illustrate our difference..." I tell him but I can't tell if he is listening "When we _finally _meet with the elders of Malwood to discuss our case"  
>"Right now, the fucking elders of Malwood want to know what happened to Matthew Delong" Philip reaches under the desk and retrieves his bottle of whiskey. He opens it, and takes a sharp swig "How about you think about that for now... eh?"<br>"Philip..."

"I will speak with you tonight" he says shortly "Your _wonderful_ Dominic will be well enough, I am certain. Good Day"

Xx~xx~xX

"We want to know how it is she is alive..."

"I am right here... why not ask me directly?" Renesme breathed "Oh, right... I am a half dead revived outcast to your idea of a perfect world. Well, Embry... the world isn't perfect. I may be the half dead outcast in your imperfect world... but _that_ doesn't make me the imperfection there!"

She sits by the window, like she always does no matter where we are; gazing through it with her indulged misery and twitching her every facial muscle to illustrate how much she doesn't want to be here...

The sun sifts through, spraying a yellowish orange over her hair and turning the thick bronze to blood. Her gaze flicks from whatever boring outside object to meet mine and my heart gives a pronounced beat; I see her hungered eyes, I feel her lips on my neck and remember the strange pleasurable pain of her pulling my blood through my veins.

"She is alive" Charles voice is low, his eyes dark and lips held firm. "That's what matters"

"Do you not want her alive, Em?" Charles asks with that intimidating calmness. He has taken a step towards Embry, and Billy has taken a step back. Leah is by the door, her arms folded over her chest and making no move to intercept whatever reckless thoughts her imprint is having...

She wants him to tear a new one into Embry. A part of me wants that too; the part of me that saved Renesme and fed her my blood... the confusing part of me that is disgusted with my self, charmed by the unnaturalness of what I have done...

"I am going to say what everyone else is thinking..." Embry huffed. I remained silent, trying not to let the little prickling his words caused rise up and fly out of my mouth but of course, this Embry... the one who wasn't a virgin and was a serial womanizer... he wasn't about to curl up and shut it. In his new bravado, I had to wonder if everyone _really _was having these thoughts. If they had always been there, festering and growing...

"And what is that?" Renesme demands with my exact words, without the snarl and all of the dead bored annoyance she manages to manufacture.

"How did she survive?" he speaks to me instead of her.

"Did you want her dead?" I asked him softly. The room isn't that large, the heat is stifling and their eyes are all on me. They feel like burning brown spotlights, sending accusations after accusations. I turn away from their gaze and meet hers. She is scared. They can't see it. She is hurt; she doesn't think _I _can see it. I wonder what she sees in my eyes...

Whatever it is doesn't comfort her, and she looks back out the window.

"I just don't get you" he whispered, frowning. "What is your move? She should go be with her family"

"Charles is here?" she says. I am afraid of opening my mouth. I don't feel like an Alpha right now... I feel like Jake, me... a kid. I don't want to be sitting at the head of the table; I want to go explore the woods with Maria like I had planned.

It feels like I have multiple personality disorder or something.

"Charles is one of us" Embry is looking right at me, they all are; they've had a parley, haven't they? I am paranoid... I need to phase... I can't _think_.  
>"Seriously, Embry?" I asked eventually and he shook his head, still frowning. The confusion is heated up; I don't want them to know how I saved her, I don't want to talk about it-but that thing in me, that <em>Alpha <em>in me...

It just won't let me be a kid, it won't let me be hormonal teenager and rip through my human flesh and knock Embry back into yesterday.

"You used to say how everything bad that happened to us was because of leeches" Embry said softly.  
>"Yeah but this isn't about leeches" I said.<p>

"Maybe..." he looked at me from the corner of his eye. "I just... when you got back with her, at the old house... you were _crying_"

I blinked, dumbfounded. I could feel heat rising in my face and I didn't dare look at Renesme... or Maria, instead fixing my eyes on Charles quivering form and thinking hard to him to remain calm. Things were not how they should be and this, it felt like Philip Erikson was remote controlling a disaster scene.

"I know you Jake" he said "Better than you think I do... I was your best friend for a while, remember. I knew the real you before we phased unlike Leah or Seth..."

"Your point?"  
>"It was fucking Bella all over again" he said quietly but the aggravation danced in his eyes. It coaxed me, it dared me and I had an option; deal with this like his Alpha or deal with it as Jake.<p>

"It wasn't" Alpha won and I fixed every muscle in my face to indifference while my insides boiled with an unfamiliar chaos of emotions. I tried to make these feelings stand against what I had felt for Bella, what I had understood about friendships and connections. I failed, I was confused and that scared me.

I didn't know what was going on and it was happening fast; despite Malwood, or Lorraine and regardless of Joham-something was happening with me as a result of Renesme. It had been different when it had been her and I at the farm; now, there was the pack. Now, there was Maria. Now, I could see clearly that she had the whole world against her and that world wanted me to join them in ostracizing her and I couldn't...

The reason I couldn't was blurred, vague and difficult... and right now, something wasn't right. They wanted her out, gone from the safety of Malwood no matter what. And that in its self gave light that there was a darkness that had seeped into our family, into the pack; we were not cruel like this...

Or maybe, we never used to be? Maybe, over the years they had turned to this...

She wasn't my enemy and Embry was confused by that; he knew, he could sense it-Renesme Cullen was not hated by Jacob Black, even though she had ripped his heart out, thrown it on the floor and stomped on it.

He looked at me closely, taking a step forward and said "Yeah... it wasn't like Bella... maybe that was the problem"  
>"You think my decisions are compromised by her?"<p>

"Possibly" he said stiffly "Weighing the greater good of the whole against one individual. We won't survive long if we get expelled from this town without training sufficiently and gathering resources. Jacob, its Joham and its Lorraine... and they won't come at us alone"  
>"I know that" I said. I wanted to hit him, punch him in the face and drag him across the ground by his tail. I could feel the wolf in me snarl softly, daring me to let a ripple through and give Philip Erikson the scenario he wanted in order to expel us from his property. "You want me to send her away, to tell her to leave and go to her family?"<br>"Yes" he relaxed, misunderstanding my calmness.

"You want me to push her out of this safety..." I waved a hand around us at the cold beautiful interior, at the walls and all the way to the large expanse that was the Eriksons Estate.

He looked away. Seth shrunk back and Billy and Bradley drifted into themselves.

"You want me to send her out, whether or not Joham and Lorraine-who both want her dead or tortured-may be waiting on that cut off highway?" I asked quickly, rising from my seat and revelling in the fact that I was taller, larger and stronger by _far _to him. I growled low and he gulped.

"If you put it like that..." he whispered.

"_You_ fucking put it like that, Embry" I said. "You think that's what I should do... to prove to you that what, I am not imprinted to her? That I am not compromising the pack for Renesme Cullen?"

"She stays in there" he cocked his head back at the mansion "With you"

"And Angela"  
>"In your room..." he breathed. "You took her body and you had it in your room. What did you do, Jacob?"<br>"I kept Edward's child's body safe" I said "I kept Charles mother's body safe... and by the grace of forces we don't know about, she woke up"  
>"I saw her at the pond that morning with Annabelle" he said. "There was blood on her dress. I got concerned you know, Annabelle sitting there..."<br>"So you went over to say hi?" I guessed.

"Caught a whiff of the blood" he said stonily "It was yours"

I couldn't hide the agitation in time and he caught it, charging on.

"You fed her your blood"

"Embry..."  
>"<em>Jacob<em>" he scowled in disgust "Still getting caught up in these _leeches_?"  
>"It wasn't like that..." I whispered.<p>

"Like what?" he asked "Like the last time it had happened?"  
>"Last time?"<br>"Oh, right... you can't _remember_" he said sarcastically "But she does. She knows... and maybe, you should ask her about it...eh?"

I looked to her but she wasn't sitting by the window sill any longer, the sun filters drawn three quarters open. "That has nothing to do with anything" I breathed.

"You take advantage of Jacob's leniency with the edict, Embry" Leah said "You've been allowed your parley and we have heard you..."  
>"I am a beta too, Clearwater" Embry breathed "And before you forget it... there is the matter of lineage..."<p>

"Get out" I told him "I've heard your words and concern but now... it's time for you to disappear for a few hours..."  
>"Because Philip has <em>edicted <em>you?" Embry laughed.

"LEAVE!"

He walked away then, swinging his arms and I was sure, muttering a prayer for the death of all vampires.

"...before you all think of joining Embry's lack of respect" I said softly "Just think of this... if she is put on trial, we all will be put on trial"

"And Embry slept with my sister" Atka growled.

"And I killed Matthew Delong" I whispered.

"And Seth slept with a dozen girls I liked..." Collin muttered.

Xx~xx~xX

The pack was split. Leah didn't say much on Embry's words and I didn't expect her to say anything at all; Renesme was her imprint's mother and that would make her partial to my actions. It was built-in for a wolf to be disgusted by all things to do with the undead; I could remember the bile that rose inside me at the thought of a vampire, the indescribable rage at the thought of them killing innocents, spilling the blood of humans over the ground and quenching on it...

I could remember it. They could too, and maybe that was the problem; it was but a memory and the realisation that that was all we had to hold onto of our last life made us cling to those old traditions and feelings with a blind determination.

That was one way of looking at it... but the other way, the way that my gut kept leading me to was that these woods and Philip were against us and they suspected that with each second we didn't phase, we would bring ourselves into ruin and hand them over our souls...

It was another way of looking at it, an Alpha way... maybe, a Philip way.

"I don't know much about wolf politics but that looked pretty serious" Maria found me in the orchard. I was sitting under a small tree, legs pulled up and probably looking like a Chihuahua. I felt like one when I was away from the pack and alone with my thoughts; pathetic things, worries, memories and lack thereof memories.

Maria sat beside me, sighing softly and imitating my stance. She nudged me with her shoulder and I ignored her; she was a completely different set of confusion right now, one that was untainted by pasts or histories. Just... the normal uncertainty that was _attraction._ I had to think different and be different in each situation; Philip, the pack, Leah, Charles and Embry and the same thing now applied with Maria.

I had to worry about things like maturity and right or wrong, the best move for everyone... but not with one person... she did what she wanted most of the time, she had a knack for executing a plan but it was her eyes. It was always her eyes that showed how incredibly vulnerable she was.

"Jacob?" Maria touched my arm, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah" I said. "Just... having a teenage moment after a gruelling meeting with Philip, Embry and obviously Seth, Bradley and Billy teaming up against me... and I have sworn not to phase and they are punishing me for making them not phase too"

"What's the big deal with Renesme?" her hand hadn't left my arm, her dark skin blending with mine. I liked this, the wolf liked this... I wondered if Maria liked it too, but I didn't have time to think further on the matter as the name Maria uttered rang in my mind in all its ridiculousness.

"They have never liked her" I said shortly.

"You liked her?"  
>"I understand a lot more than they do" I said through a clenched jaw.<p>

"Don't want to talk about it?" she asked. I remained silent and she sighed. "Okay, let's talk about the Erikson's big _Daddy Cool_. Is he going to assist us or what?"

"Yeah and no" I said "He can't _not _help us right now because he is unsure on our worth and power. I don't know their politics but there is a power struggle going on... something like there not being a distinct Alpha? Or too many Alphas' I suppose..." I thought about how Embry, Charles, Billy and I seemed to be taking the _none_ phasing a little harder than everyone else. Maybe it wasn't just an 'Alpha' thing, maybe it was just a matter of control... Embry didn't have the Alpha thing in him after all.

_No one knows that for certain!_ A voice, resembling Leah's, screeched in my head. It was the old Leah, the harder than rock and boiling like a volcano Leah.

"You saved Dominic" Maria said. "Didn't you?"  
>"Leah practically kidnapped him" I chuckled "This can go two ways; we either saved Dominic and Annabelle or we are responsible for Matthew Delong's disappearance..."<p>

"Matthew Delong?" she asked.

I remained silent for a moment, the feel of death being delivered by my jaws moving over my face.

"...Back in La Push, Sam had to deal with the tribe at every decision making process when things heated up with the vampires" I continued swiftly "I am guessing that's what's up here"

"Who is Sam...?"  
>"You wouldn't know him even if I told you" I cut her. "Philip has to answer to someone and he doesn't like it one bit. All in all, I would say Dominic pulled some superior political attack against him and that was what got us in this town..."<br>"So we owe Dominic a lot?" she asked, scooting closer to me. She leaned against my arm and rested her head on my shoulder, winding her arm through mine.

"Too much" I sighed.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**CARLISLE CULLEN**

The coolness was deceptive. The tall trees reached high, wild vines wove through their branches and many tiny creatures moved over them. It was its own metropolitan; a city so wild and alien, the true first civilisation of the world and yet it was savagery to us. These insects, the animals… all savages to us."Father…" Kilpa called tentatively. "Your phone is ringing?"

"Bring it to me" I said softly.

The coolness was deceptive. The jungle was deceptive. Everything in the natural civilisation was a form of trickery, guarding itself against the true savages; us.

The emerald shade did little to shield those below from the hot sun, the heat filtering through leaves and large plants and spraying over the ground. I felt it on my skin; I felt its determination to pierce the coldness of marble flesh; the bugs, the heat and all of it fighting to push me out of the jungle. Nature trying her best to remove man's presence from her, because she knew what we were even if we did not know it ourselves.

Savages. Barbarians. Monsters.

"And I..." I smiled "A true demon"

The misery I felt acknowledging that was powerful and the acceptance of such a thing gave evidence that I would never be saved in the love of a family, of a woman… of a God. Salvation had long escaped me, my father had said; my birth had been through murder, I was a murderer.

"Lorraine" I looked at the caller i.d on the phone. Kilpa had long retreated to the safety he thought he had in his friends after handing me the phone. "Lorraine" I answered.

"The good Doctor Cullen" she responded in a giggle. "Or is it _Father _Cullen"

"Carlisle will do" I sighed, awaiting her instruction and preparing for her rebuke of my intention to leave this dark jungle.

Xx~xx~xX

The team of donors and missionaries are littered in the village. It is too easy to convince third world humans of my naturalness compared to the villagers, and arrival of the westerners here has worked perfectly with my purpose. They help with the immunisation, the education, while desperately trying to reach out to the tribes in the jungle; teach them of God and Forgiveness.

I play my part easily, because I had been that man once; the priest, the caring father substitute… it is easy to call on that. Easy but still painful.

"Father Carlisle…?" she calls gently. I see her easily from where I am, in the depths of the shadows of the rickety house, lost in memories and bound by thoughts. They mean nothing, all these reflections; I am set on my path. "Father Carlisle, are you in there? It is Sister Mary…"

"I am here" I say and she lets out a shaky breath

"Why are you in the dark, Father?"  
>"Meditation"<p>

She enters with the lamp held out in front of her, her eyes squinting and trying to catch the light of the flickering flame. I watch her and wonder; what are her thoughts, what does she think of me-young and beautiful and committed to a God; who is she?

And more importantly, _who has she been…_?

"Luke Wilson says you are going on a religious quest into the forbidden parts of the jungle…" she giggles a little, placing the lamp on the table. I knew her face easily and her shape, but the warm light of the lamp spraying over her casts her in shadows and hues that kindle my interest further; a reminder to an - element of my purpose in these jungles.

"A religious quest" I try the words out. I make no movement from my position by the window, seated in the bamboo chair. She pulls the stool from the table close and carries it with a little difficulty over to me and sits down stiffly. She looks around the room, those thoughts fleeting in her mind like pretty butterflies floating on a wayward breeze and I wonder what it would be like to hear them. I wonder, careless curiosity, how it truly is like for Edward to hear them all, each day.

My insides pang. I look away from Sister Mary and stare into the dark night, looking past it and all the way to the lively little village with its busy body people and inherited affinity to the supernatural. These humans are blessed to be able to see the strange, unlike the western world's ignorance to it.

"God is real to the western world" I say, not necessarily to Sister Mary… not necessarily to myself. I may be speaking to God himself, but deep down I know it's the Devil I consult with. "And yet the devil is but a mythical creature… and their inattention to his existence has given him strength beyond anything we could have ever imagined"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**EDWARD CULLEN**

The hotel room is dark, curtains drawn and light dimmed. The windows are open and a meagre breeze manages to occasionally push the thick curtains forward, swirling the scents of the room around and refreshing the air. The wallpaper is dark too, with a swirling design of leaves and gloomy flora. It's macabre and sultry and strangely appealing in the way it bewilders the mind from the fact that it is day time outside when in this little world, in the room of this hotel... everything seems to be perpetually thrown into night time darkness.

"I knew you'd appreciate it" Alice smiled. She is standing by the navy curtains, her fingers brushing the edge of the fabric occasionally as though she means to draw the curtains open. She doesn't mean to... because she believes we are being watched.

_We are being watched..._ her thoughts repeat and the image of Alec's face flashes over these thoughts, the images of familiar guard members and a dark cell, Aro's voice instructing her to book this room.

"You found them?" I ask her, leaving the door open for Rosalie and Isabella to enter. They follow, silently and shut the door. We are all here-the remainder of the coven, the last of the Cullen family.

"Yes... and no" Alice said moving from the window to stand in the middle of the room. She seems grave but there is hope in her thoughts. "They found us"

There was a sudden sound, a sound one does not expect and one that shocks... if one is a vampire. It was the sound of the toilet flushing. We all stared at the door to the toilet, a strange fear welling inside of us and the shame of acknowledging that fear; we were afraid of humans. We were afraid of _Lorraine's_ humans.

The door handle turned down and the door nudged open... "Edward" Aro walked out of the toilet, dressed distractingly _normal _and human. He held a bar of soap in his hand and did not bother to look up, instead staring intently at it "I tell you... who knew that a toilet experience could be made so enjoyable? They have all these perfumes and trinkets...!"

"Haven't you been in a toilet before?" Rosalie couldn't stop herself and I didn't blame her; in his twenty something gear and mussed long hair, Aro looked harmless and to those who knew him, ridiculously normal.

"Not in the last two hundred years" Aro said evenly "They always seemed so disgusting..." he pointed back at the toilet "Even when they were grand..."

This was bizarre.

"You must be wondering why I am here" he looked up at me, smirking and finally I recognised him. His eyes swivelled to a silent Isabella before falling back on my face.

"You read my mind" I said.

"I'd much rather read your thoughts" he pouted, walking over to me slowly. He held the soap out to me; it was green, almost transparent and had flecks of purple to it. "Smell it" he commanded.

I inhaled and he tutted.

"Humour me... and smell it like humans would?" he made his eyes large and sulked "You know... like how a _human_ Isabella would?"

I took the soap bar from him, careful not to touch his fingers and brought it up to my nose. "It's smells lovely" I told him.

"It smells like Carlisle's scent" he said seriously "Does it not?"

I recognised the juniper in the bar almost immediately as he said this and my insides clenched, every Cullen in the room tensing. "It does" I said.

"It does" he agreed, nodding his head and sitting down by the dresser. He picked a brush up, surveyed it with mild curiosity and began brushing his hair "How one can lose a vampire with in-depth knowledge on vampire anatomy and genetics to humans who want to eradicate vampires is beside me. I hope remembering Carlisle's scent will make tracking him and bringing him back much easier Edward"

"You know very well I need help..." I said through clenched teeth.

"Ask and it shall be given..." Aro said "Isn't that so, Isabella?"  
>Had I still been in love with Isabella, Aro's thoughts would have sent me over the edge. Her face looking up at him, asking him... and of course, Aro's own request of Isabella; he grinned at me, an innocent smile.<p>

I smiled back "Will you help us find our father? Will you assist in finding your lost friend?"

"Of course" he said and then looked around the room, at my siblings and lastly, at Isabella. "I can't help but notice how _rude _you have all been? No hand shake...?"  
>"You will agree that in these times trusted words have more honour than stolen memories... lest we misunderstand each other?"<p>

"Yes, of course" he turned around fully and clasped his hands in front of him. "In the spirit of full disclosure... I should tell you that we no longer reside in Volterra... fully"

"Why?" Isabella asked. They had all been quiet, allowing me to take the lead as the Coven Leader.

"Bella, have you not seen the new breed of humans that walk this earth?" Aro asked "Or were you too busy _fucking _Joham, double crossing me and reviving your marriage?"

She silenced.

"Anyway..." Aro rose flipped his hand impetuously at Isabella "These are hard times for the Volturi and my assistance to you, Alice... will be like I promised. Minimal. Our guard was weakened due to a sudden werewolf problem... Caius is seeing to that, naturally. There is a war and it is one that no one never anticipated, not even you, Alice. The war is coming upon our world and vampires are at a disadvantage. Do you know why, Isabella?"  
>"No" she grumbled.<p>

"Because some vampires run around making weak hybrids and defective vampires instead of parenting stronger vampires" at this, Aro's eyes swivelled to mine. "We are pathetically under populated and Jane has uncovered something. There is an immunisation that has been introduced to the humans by various governments to guard their sad healths against those nasty diseases and infections that kill them or worse, make them leak from the nose. That immunisation makes it ten times less likely for them to be turned into vampires..."  
>"Lorraine?" I read his mind.<p>

"She is a general in this war, Edward" Aro sighed. "But this goes much higher and far beyond your imaginations reach"  
>"Then shed some mental light on it..." I said, frustrated by his cautious thoughts.<p>

"There has been contact with a number of Coven heads on the matter of increasing our vampire population" Aro said. "None of that barbarism from the South..." he imitated Jasper's accent as he said this, giving Jasper an unsatisfied look "Scrutinise your selection..."

"I have not agreed to what you are saying...!" I hissed.

"You have no choice. It is officially the _second _law..." he sneered.

"And therein to we realise your generosity's purpose in lending us Jane...!" I hissed "He wants Carlisle for this purpose; Carlisle was conducting research on vampire talents...!"

"Not forgetting the fact that he is one of a few who finds it easy to turn a human" Aro added casually.

"There is nothing easy about it even for him" I snarled.

"I will give you Jane and her team and you will arrive in the safety of one of our allies territories...on one condition"  
>"I thought the condition was that we allow you to take Carlisle?" Rosalie spat.<p>

"Oh, you have no choice on the matter..." Aro smiled. "I am not the most trusting of vampires... but I trust Carlisle's idiotic compassion"  
>"You are in for a surprise then" Isabella laughed cruelly.<p>

"Your condition?" I pressed.

"There is rumour of a fallen star that landed in Peru millions of years ago" Aro said slowly. "A star that is lost in the jungle, deliberately camouflaged to vampires..."

"What about it?" Rosalie cut him.

"I want it"

"Uh, you just said its 'camouflaged to vampires'...?" Emmett frowned.

"You are resourceful and I'm sure you will find a way" Aro walked to the door, touching Isabella's cheek when he passed her. She cringed at his touch and he smiled. "Carlisle and the stone, Edward"  
>"What do you want with a stone?"<br>"To own it" he said softly, his thoughts guarded by a song on _clever telepaths._ "And save our kind from extinction"

Xx~xx~xX

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**REVIEWS ON YOUR THOUGHTS LIKES AND DISLIKES ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!**


	8. Sowing

**SOWING **

**X**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**CARLISLE CULLEN**

**X**

**x**

Sister Mary's visits began to increase and with them my intention. I was startled by her blindness to my demonism especially as a woman as holy as she should be. Was this part of her sanctity; finding the reprieve in all evil, pulling it back from the dark and leading it to her light? Was God so powerful that he had blessed her with armour against contamination...?

Could I contaminate her? Was it necessary?

Oh, but I _wanted_ to and she was so eager to flirt with my dark form was she not? I could see it glinting in her eyes, in her reserved smile and how her fingers would brush back any daring strands of hair that came loose from her wrap...

I had seen it in her or maybe I had somehow succumbed to the jungle; pulled in by the bouquet of pollen it emitted, turning me to delusions as though I were a weak human. Was she the delusion...? Was she the intoxication; her scent and the life force pumping through her veins was a blood orchid's wicked breath, her soft skin's touch a cruel caress from poisonous ivy...?

That hazy question floated up in me once again; who had she been before she had married into holiness? I was unsure if these questions came from the lingering side of me that fought the cancer of darkness; darkness I couldn't hold Lorraine accountable for. I could hold no one responsible for its birth, because I knew... truthfully; it was born long before any deaths of soul mates, any wars and resentments. The moment I had been flung into vampirism, I had become tainted and for decades and centuries I had tried to deny that nature. I had tried to fight it but the sweetness I felt in letting every wicked thought move freely over my mind was liberating.

A dark liberation, and in this freedom I could let her-the innocent Sister Mary-continue her visits and infatuation with me. Today she comes with a reason that holds some weight rather than a search for conversation and concern of my solitude; she comes with a sick woman, supporting her and leading her by the elbow, the woman letting out a hacking cough and her fevered eyes unfocused.

"Father...?" Mary entered my home her face flushed "This is Grace... she lives in the west of the village. She is terribly ill!"  
>"Sit her down on the bed" I instructed.<p>

Xx~xx~xX

She stood outside patiently, holding a small packet in her hands.

"She'll be fine" I smiled at her.

"I don't doubt it" she blushed "She was in your hands"

"She was in God's hands"

She blushed further, shaking her head a little before playing with the little packet in her hands. "I saw you started a garden a few days ago..." she pointed a little way off, at the front of the house. "Sister Margaret said she was going to ask you if you minded help from a few of the children. She thinks it would be good for them?"

"I think so too" I smiled.

"Well..." she pushed her hand out, fisting the packet "Here is a little something to get you started"

"Why, thank you Sister!" I opened my hand and she dropped the packet into my awaiting palm "Maybe we can plant them together"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**EDWARD CULLEN**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

"I don't like this" Jasper grumbled.

"Me too" Rosalie sulked, glaring at the far off docks miserably. It was dark, the stars dimmed out by the city lights and the expanse of sea appearing particularly gloomy. "I'd much rather we just took a jet, Edward. If none is available, I won't be so spoilt... business class will do just fine"

"I didn't mean the travelling by water part..." Jasper breathed, exasperated "I meant the _Jane _part. I meant the _Alec _part. I meant the terrible twins part of this mission! Those two preadolescent perverts are double headed rattlesnakes just waiting to sink their fangs in us..."

"We have Bella now?" Emmett said "That should count for _something_" He stood beside Rosalie, his arm around her as though she were cold-and just as if she were indeed cold, Rosalie snuggled into him and rested her head against his chest. If he had a heart, she would be listening to its beat. If he had a heart, it would be calm with her in his arms.

I looked at Bella; she was seated far off in the darkness of the warehouse., glaring at an iPad; at first I was unboundedly suspicious of her, tempted to fly across the considerable space and grab the thing from her; so certain I would uncover some form of diabolical double cross to either Joham or Aro's favour, even an alliance with Lorraine would not surprise...

But on closer inspection, she was playing _Angry Birds_ and sucking beautifully.

"Having Bella..." I murmured "Is like not having her at the same time"  
>"I'd trust Edward on that" Jasper chuckled "He was married to her and look were having her got him"<br>"Alone" Alice sighed wistfully.

"You are so sensitive, Jazz" I sighed.

"I specialise in emotions, brother" he patted my back.

"I hear Jane's thoughts" I announced. "They'll be here shortly and then we leave"

"Through the water?" Rosalie asked again, hopeful for a different outcome.

"We'll board a boat mid journey" I told her.

"A fishing boat or a cruise liner?" she pressed.

"A fishing boat"

"Damn" she tucked her head back into Emmett. "My hair..."

"I say we keep the star or whatever it is" Jasper whispered quickly, his ears keen to the sound of vampires approaching the perimeter of the warehouse. _We keep whatever we find... I don't trust Aro!_

"Neither do I" I told him.

_He wants it more than he wants Carlisle..._ Jasper frowned.

I agreed with him with a terse nod, as Jane and her brother jumped in gracefully from a hole in the roof, landing upright on the ground. Behind them, various Guards entered from different points; old faces and new ones-brighter eyes and dulled ones.

Aro wanted this mythical fallen star badly; I had peaked into his mind as best as I could and saw that the thing had been written in paintings, caves and parchments of ancient; a rumour amongst the immortals and a fable kept by human tribes that had resisted colonialism. He wanted it, he felt he needed it and somehow, he had thought of The Company in relation to it.

Would he use it against them? Did he want to keep it from them?

What was it...? A meteorite, a gem of infinite worth or some kind of power source. What frightened me the most was not its structure and form but that Aro desperately needed it when he himself did not know what it looked like or what it could do.

"Edward" Jane greeted. She stood far off, in her customary black hood and lips painted a dangerous crimson. "We are instructed to go to Brazil..."  
>"We figured that out in the meeting, little doll" Emmett muttered.<p>

She rolled her eyes slow and leisurely, tilting her head a little before continuing bored "... we go to Brazil and seek out safety from Joham immediately. No confrontations by all means"

"Why not go directly to the fallen star?" Isabella had long smashed her plaything, risen from the box she had been sitting on for twelve hours and animated in the face of Jane (Rosalie had been too miserable to banter with Isabella, her mind focused on losing her curls in the water).

"Because our _purpose_ is to find Carlisle" Rosalie growled.

"Your purpose is to do Aro's bidding" Jane said severely.

"Last I checked, I wasn't Aro's little _boobless _bitch" Rosalie had taken a step from Emmett's arm, glaring black hate at Jane.

"Watch your mouth" Alec growled.

"Said the balless cherub" Emmett grinned dangerously.

"I'll end you, you brainless ogre!" Alec hissed.

"We have not joined the Volturi; we simply agreed to work with you..." I said evenly. "For a common cause..."  
>"A cause that isn't this goddamned <em>star<em>...!" Rosalie added and Alice and Jasper gave me an indicative look, both of them screaming mentally how it would be unwise to _not_ participate actively, fully and deviously in this excursion. I nodded my head once; Rosalie misinterpreting it as agreement with her and calming down.

"Yes" Jane sighed "Carlisle etcetera, vampire knowledge blah and whatnot. Quite frankly, this century is turning out to be quite infuriating with all this drama; drama that I for one think was caused by one individual" she turned her head to Isabella and smiled disgustedly "Edward"

"Me?" I half yelled.

"If you hadn't been so weak as to choose a human mate, make a half vampire whore, reveal the existence of one extinct species and another bizarre one, antagonize humans with your mockery of _trying_ to be human..." she paused, raising an eyebrow "We would all be quietly doing something as excitingly mundane as existing forever"

"I sort of agree wither her" Jasper grinned.

"Er... yeah, sorry brother" Rosalie muttered.

"Let's just go" I growled.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"Sister Mary..." Peter called. She was busy with the children, lining them up for a trip to the nurse so they could recieve their shots. She didn't hear him, bent over and whispering heatedly to a crying young girl. He called her once more and she told him firmly but gently that she would be with him soon; her face flushed and eyes red and a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead.

"Her name is Lila" Peter said a little loudly, calling Sister Mary's attention to him. "Her father died in the last expedition in the uncharted areas of the Amazon, i think it was the south... "

Sister Mary stood up straight, frowning. She took a handkerchief from her pocket and blew her nose, wiping it carefully before storing it away. She pushed little Lila forward and positioned her forcefully in the line before turning to John. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Have I offended you?" Peter asked. "I just saw you were having difficulty with Lila... she requires a gentle touch"  
>"You think I am incapable of a gentle 'touch'?" Sister Mary's annoyance was drowned by the nasal quality of her voice.<p>

"I saw you were having difficulty, Sister, and I have known Lila since she was born. She is particularly sensitive..." Peter repeated, glancing at a silently sobbing Lila.

"I apologize" Sister Mary sighed, folding her arms over her chest "We are lacking hands today... most of the volunteers have succumbed to the flu and with the heat, its unbearable for most. I myself have been running around like a headless chicken regardless of being sick...!"

"I can imagine" Peter smiled. "You haven't recognised me, Sister?"  
>"Uh..."<br>"Grace's son?" Peter asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling.

"Oh, yes!" Sister Mary smiled back.

"I wanted to thank you for taking my mother to the doctor..."

"It's Father Carlisle you should be thanking. He is the only doctor on call right now" Sister Mary smiled.

"My mother has invited him to dinner" Peter sighed "She has asked me to ask him and I was wondering if you could point me to where he lives?"  
>"In the north, right by the edge" Sister Mary said "But you can catch him in the forest with the young men during the day"<p>

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**CARLISLE CULLEN**

I was uncertain on what my reaction would be if this frustrating venture came out fruitless. I could see myself taking out my anger on Kilpa; maybe killing every single resident of this village... if only to get a reaction from the lovely Lorraine that wasn't a saccharine form of manipulation.

A human manipulating a vampire; was I so conceited as to be angered by this concept, or by her audacity to attempt this? I wasn't above it, it seems, in my dark ways and I revelled in the indignation that rose up and the thought of lifting her up from the ground was enticing; my fingers wouldn't find purchase around her plump neck and I would resort to digging through the flesh, raising her up and bringing her eyes level to mine and then, she would understand how _Good _a Doctor I could be to her...

And cure her of _life._

"Father..." Kilpa calls. His step falters and when I see him, when I meet his eyes I realise why; in the three and a half hours that he has been gone with his friends, I haven't moved from my position. He has taken note of this. I dare him to say something on the matter with a raised eyebrow and friendly smile.

He gulps and takes a step back; he knows by now that I can hear him unnaturally from where he is. He knows by now, that he _hates _being near me. I frighten him, I enthral him and he cannot stay away because he associates me with riches, beauty and freedom from his life.

The Good Doctor does have a cure for the pain of living, after all.

"We can move to the east village tomorrow..." he points at his men, who stand far apart from the young volunteers of the other families of the village. They stand superiorly away from the other men, the little knowledge they have that they were explicitly selected and are receiving a different payment giving them a sense of elevation.

"Unnecessary expense, Kilpa" I drone "I am in no mood to be taken advantage of by another..._person_... this week. There are so many sick_ people_ and I find myself having to attend to them thanks to that nun"

"The boys I paid from that village sent news that the map is well on its way. They want to do the journey tomorrow... but they would sooner steal it and sell it if they go alone" Kilpa says quickly.

"_You_ would sooner steal it too, Kilpa" I sighed.

"No Father!" he stammered. He looked back at his team nervously and took three steps towards me and said softly "I am having difficulty sending your required number into that part of the jungle. It's a week of trailing Father and you do not know how big the artefact is..." 

I took the little notebook Lorraine had given me out of my breast pocket and thumbed through the pages slowly. No human had a chance of deciphering the lost language and symbols; it had been taken from various locations across the world by an enthusiastic human scientist for decades, based on The Company's own personal archive of information. The notebook was a compilation of all things to do with this artefact; references from hieroglyphics, folk tales and fables...

And a warning in each, a curse gleaming over the promise of glory but I knew something that the long gone scientists had missed, that Lorraine didn't care of; there would be a sacrifice to retrieve this gem.

They needed something that shown bright and pure; something I did not contain; a fully grown soul. Where would one find a soul that was pure whose light and sanctity led the way through darkness like a tower light? I could think of only children-and my gratitude that this was not what was required was immense but if it had been that, I had no doubt that I would do what was necessary to complete this task.

"You can go nowhere without the key to unlock the chest that holds this treasure" I laughed.

"Then give us the key Father?"

"I thought you said you had a problem with the number of men, regardless?"  
>"That can be fixed by an increase in payments" he grinned.<p>

"Always so greedy, Kilpa" I sighed. "I haven't obtained the key yet but I have it insights"

He frowned, not understanding me. I remained silent, staring at him until his heart beat increased its tempo and he was forced to look away.

"But what did you need from me?" he asked.

"The location" I said. "Go ahead, gather a team if you feel you are up for the stroll or not; I will pay you as arranged"  
>"But it would be more if I retrieved it for you!" he pressed.<p>

"Do what you see fit" I whispered "But bring me that map tonight"

He was about to say more when he noticed a man standing near us. I had seen him long before and had watched him inching closer and closer to us. A daring human, an inquisitive one too with a certain light in his eyes that I thought I had once known...

"Sir?" I called to him, smiling.

He took in a breath and covered the remainder of the space, standing next to Kilpa who gave him a terse head nod. "He is Peter" Kilpa announced before the man could speak. "He lives at the edges..." he went on, frowning in dissatisfaction as he said this.

"Peter" I greeted him.

"I was told by Sister Mary that you would be here" he said. He stared at my face; no doubt eerie and beautiful in the shade, my eyes dark and contrasting dangerously in that deathly marble. He had never seen me probably; I seldom travelled deep into the village (an unwise thing to do, when one sparkled in the sun).

"Ah, the lovely Sister Mary! Always so eager..." I laughed. He blinked, confused by the sound of my voice. "She is quite helpful, is she not?"  
>"Yes" he said absently "She has caught the flu after being around my mother"<br>"Your mother is Grace?" I asked.

"Yes... that is what I have come to you about..."  
>"Is she not resting as instructed?"<br>"No she is doing exactly as you instructed her... but she would like to repay you" he stuttered. "She has invited you for a meal, at our home?"

"That would be unnecessary"

"She asked me to tell you about my brother too" he said quickly, fearing an imminent dismissal. "His name is John and he is recently returned from the City..."  
>"In Lima?" I asked him and he shook his head.<p>

"In Brazil..." he sighed. "We are unsure on what he did there... drugs and maybe a criminal life. He worked at this club you see, it's called Help! There was some kind of massacre there and he is just... different. Lost. She would like for you to pray for him"

"Of course"  
>"She has invited you to dinner" he said, relieved.<p>

"I invite _you _and your family to dinner instead" I smiled. "I believe your brother has a testimony to tell of his experience and he should not have to fear it any longer"

"Yes, of course..." he backed away, leaving a glowering unimpressed Kilpa. I watched him run back through the trees.

"Bring me the map..." I told Kilpa "I expect no incompetence. I have given you plenty of margin to be what you are, but now you shall allow me to be what I am"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**EDWARD CULLEN**

I agreed with Jane in one sense; the events of this century had made our immortality almost as fragile as human life.

We are surrounded by bristling werewolves. It is day time, the sun high above our heads and yet there they are with coarse fur and hate filled eyes, watching us and awaiting further instruction. Behind them, there are vampires and in the distance a land cruiser pushes over the terrain in our direction.

"This is as diplomatic a greeting as Raul can offer" Isabella muttered.

"Would that be Raul driving towards us?" I asked her.

"Not him... an emissary" she said unwillingly, obviously uncomfortable with knowing as much as she did. The vehicle arrives and I realise we had been herded to this point; the door opens and a thin tall vampire steps out. Alec hacks, thinking how disgusting it was that these vampires would bother with cars.

"Follow" the vampire booms over the low snarls of the werewolves. We do as commanded silently and enter fully into the unsteady protection offered in Raul's territory.

Xx~xx~xX

"Was that not a perfect welcome party?" his accent is thick, his eyes pulsing with fresh blood. He is an odd version of a vampire; short, absent in shape with large eyes and curly black hair. Nothing like I had envisioned him, nothing like the man who would have uncovered the science to controlling werewolves; the vampire that was a challenge to The Company, one that had pushed Joham to the edges of Brazil.

We remained silent.

"You know, Joham has a hit out for vampires with yellow eyes" Raul points at Jasper and Emmett's eyes, glancing at me briefly; Renesme's face flashing over his mind. "You might want to get rid of those!" he laughed.

"Is that necessary if we are under your protection?" I asked him.

"You are in my territory" he chuckled "But I am yet to consider protecting you. I have word from my borders that Joham's son knows of your arrival"  
>"And not Joham?" I asked.<p>

"The madman is not in Brazil" Raul sighed "He hasn't been around for a while, leaving the dealings of his lands to his idiot son and daughters"

"A good time to complete the takeover" the thin vampire murmured and Raul raised his hands.

"And leave all his children homeless?" Raul sighed "I am not that cruel. Speaking of _children_... how is your daughter? I have heard of you, Edward Cullen the Mind Reader"

"From where?" I asked stiffly.

_From your daughter's blood..._ his mental voice smiled. "She gave it willingly" he elaborated when my expression turned severe, my insides clenching and something in me heating up.

"Edward?" Jasper asked.

"What is it?" Alice pleaded.

"He has drank from my... from Renesme" I breathed.

Isabella growled and Raul laughed, shaking his head in disbelief before pointing an accusing finger at Isabella "You dare to be surprised? What, you think I have forgotten what it is _you_ are about?"

"Joham is the utmost cruelty" Raul shook his head. "His affection is poison, his hate is passion"

"If you know so much of Joham then tell me what he wants with her!" Isabella hissed "Why can he not leave Renesme alone!"

"If you think your daughter is special..." Raul said dryly "Rearrange those silly thoughts. Half vampires are difficult to create, I am sure but not impossible"

"And your fixation on her is based on what!" I hissed.

"She is your image, Señor" Raul whispered and I was left gagging at his thoughts. "Joham's pathetic heir is undeserving of such strength and beauty"

"You have got to be kidding me" Jane drawled.

"Tell me she didn't have an affair with you!" Rosalie spat.

"Sadly... no" Raul mumbled dejectedly "A man does not seek an affair with a goddess like your daughter, Señor. He seeks to be her King, and have her as his Queen" Raul smiled "Like I said, half vampires may be difficult to make but they _can_ be made. One just needs the right vampire"  
>"And you are that vampire?" Alec chuckled.<p>

"Ha!" Raul laughed. "In all the populace of vampire males... I believe we could come up with only a handful that could do what Joham does" he paused and looked at me carefully "Or what you managed to do that once as it seems now you have loved and tasted passion?"

"A drop of passion" I said in distaste.

"Hmm" he smiled "Could you say that you could repeat what you did in the conception of the exquisite Renesme, after that drop of passion?"

I gulped. Angela's face flew over my eyes and that cruel clenching turned severe and sweet, coiling in my abdomen. "I don't think so..." I breathed. "I have learnt of heartbreak since then and my control..."

"No greater fuel to passion than the pain of loving, and were passion is fuelled there can be no control" Raul grinned. "I give you safety in my lands, lovely vampires! I don't want to know of your dealings and only a courtesy visit from you will be required when you are about to leave Brazil. Your housing will be provided and needs catered too!"  
>"No human blood" I said quickly.<p>

"He means for himself and his lot alone" Jane clarified.

"And one thing..." I told Raul "The yellow eyed vampire you allowed to pass through your territories..."

"He really is a mind reader!" Raul chuckled. He seemed to be a very happy and at ease vampire; such a contrast to what my imagination had built of a ruthless warlock.

"I would like to know the direction he went when leaving your territory?"  
>"He went off with human missionaries" the thin vampire answered. "He was harmless enough; he appeared deranged; parading as a priest and killing stray dogs to feed himself"<p>

"Sounds just like Carlisle" Jane laughed cruelly.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**CARLISLE CULLEN**

"Your home is lovely" Grace murmurs. Sister Mary smiles, pleased I had invited her as my guest too. It feels foreign when once, so recently, it had been second nature; appearing as human as a dead heart could permit. I had forgotten that I had loved cooking, I had forgotten so much but the reminder of that past did not send me back into the previous vampire I had been; it made me realise how unreal that vampire was.

I had never forgotten, simply neglected its existence; and its evidence may have given way to stronger recollections of Esme-but in them, my hate grew tenfold. Behind Grace, her sons enter; Peter is easily taller than his brother; John is a slight man with startlingly innocent eyes and a worn face besides his obvious youth.

The room was lit with lamps and candles, the generator stored away for the night after the cooking had been dealt with. I couldn't stand the things racket. The light was perfect for those creatures who didn't tan, the light was perfect to rid my plate of food expertly...

I would appear human and warm.

I would appear human...

"...no..." Grace's youngest son breathed. The sound was low, the words were but a breath but I had heard his sudden cry as though it were booming thunder. I met his eyes and they widened further, comically terrified. I smiled at him and his dark face paled considerably, the corners of his mouth pulling down. I grinned toothily and he took a step back, and then to the side as though he meant to run back out and into the night.

"Come now John" his mother pleaded, grabbing his hand and holding him firmly in my sights. "The good Father wants to pray for you"  
>"I want to pray for you" I told him pulling his chair out from the table. Sister Mary had been wowed by the change in the interior over a few hours but what she didn't know was that purpose was always a good enthusiast to the uncaring and in her I had found plenty of it.<p>

I sit at the head of the table, Sister Mary on my right and Grace happily at my left, holding my hand.

Peter is watching, John is staring and outside Kilpa arrives and lingers on the porch.

They are talking and I am replying; it's so easy to pretend again; I am on autopilot. I await Kilpa's knock, already planning the next two hours of this play.

"Come in!" I call and he enters. He does not hide his distrust of Peter's family, his envy at seeing them sitting at my table, his shock at how _homely _the shack has turned, lust glints in his eyes when his eyes sweep over Sister Mary who is informally dressed and finally...

He falls back into what he should be, when gazing at my face. Wary. Afraid. Not like the traumatized John but it works for both Kilpa and I.

"I have the map, Father" he whispers by my ear. I smile at Peter and place my hand out expectantly for the map. Kilpa hesitates before placing the worn paper in my palm; confused as to why I would conduct our private affairs so freely and openly at the dinner table.

"Excuse me..." I smile at Grace and Sister Mary "I have to store this in my room. It's the second final piece for the expedition"

"One more to go?" Sister Mary giggled.

"Yes" I smile at her. "But just maybe that last piece to unlock the treasures of this adventure is you, my dear? One needs company for these things, a bright soul to light the way..."  
>She giggled further, blushing and from the corner of my eye I saw that inquisitiveness in Peter's eyes.<p>

Xx~xx~xX

"I thank you for praying for my John..." Grace repeated, holding my hand in both of hers and staring up at me adoringly. I am moved by their blindness; these humans, so naive and trusting. There was no possible way that I could have forgotten this but it was startling, witnessing it over and over...

They never learnt, did they?

"Anytime" I tell her "And John..." I call. He freezes his slow departure, never turning around to face me and tensing considerably "Don't be a stranger... I would _hate_ that very much. I don't think it would be good for both of us if I had to search you out? It is not often that one meets a man such as yourself, who has experiences the evils of the world and yet remains... untainted in spirit"

His heart is in overdrive, he doesn't acknowledge me and that's just fine.

"Thank you Father" Peter exited the house, smiling easily at me.

"I hope the toilet was easy to locate" I smiled at him. "I apologise for the lack of light. I neglected to put a candle in there... silly me..."

"No problem Father" he said quickly "I used the one from your bedroom, if you don't mind"  
>"Not at all" I breathed, waving goodbye to the little family as they made their way back to their home. Sister Mary stood beside me, nervous and harassing her dress. I looked at her, smiling and she turned her eyes away bashfully. "You don't have to go yet if you are not ready"<p>

"Yes" she breathed, failing to make eye contact. "We do have to discuss our adventure... our... exploring into the... uncharted territories"  
>"I agree" I touched her shoulder. "You could go back inside were there aren't so many bugs..." I laughed, waving a hand at the large winged insects buzzing near the lamp. "And heat some water for our tea?"<br>"You aren't coming... inside?" she asked.

"Oh, I am" I smiled at her "I just have to deal with something quickly". She nodded her head, as though she had fully understood this last remark. I was unsure but it didn't matter; she trusted me and that was of vital importance. Kilpa moved from the edge, swaggering towards me. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, I could tell the courage it invoked in him through his walk.

"Kilpa!" I laughed.

"You knew he wanted it" he said.

"Of course I knew" I hissed. "He is human"

He shuddered at 'human' but did not let it deter him. "He took it, didn't he?"

"Of course he did" I said "And I left out a little segment from the notebook with translated information. He is determined, past riches and his brother is a broken child locked in a man's body... they will test the waters for you"

"I don't like it"

"I don't care!" I laughed. "Now leave, I have a nun to attend to"

Xx~xx~xX

"...I thought you were not permitted to drink?" I asked her.

"No..." she shook her head, her cheeks fevered. "I am not permitted to do so much and you know what, Father?"  
>"Yes, Sister Mary?"<br>"Please, call me Maryanne" she giggled.

"Maryanne" I obliged her.

"I loved that" she sighed "I loved the commitment and strict love God gave me. I felt it could save me..."

"And it did"

"And it did" she agreed miserably, finishing off her glass of wine. "But then I met you..."

And I pulled you from that safety into the false security of my dead arms, I seduced you from his cold love to my burning hate of the world...? "And you saw how wonderful it was to be loved by God?" I smiled.

"I remembered how it was like to want something... someone..." she said seriously, placing her glass clumsily back onto the table. "Your beauty is distracting Father, your voice is enchanting"  
>"It is a curse"<br>"A blessing" she breathed. "A blessing... I want you to... bless me?"  
>"Sister Mary, you have had too much"<p>

"Maryanne... I told you Father" she rose from her seat and picked the bottle of wine up, regarding the information printed over its smooth surface. She gave it one last consideration before drinking directly from it. "Can I not sin this once... after so long?"  
>"What possible sin could you have ever committed, Sister... I mean, Maryanne" I whispered, allowing her to angle her self between my seated form and the table. She straddled me and sighed, her bitter breath wisping hot over my face.<p>

"You are purity" I told her "You are light and you have passion"

"I am?" she asked. "I do?"

"Yes" I kissed her lips. "You are exactly the key to this treasure box"  
>"You believe this?" she murmured and I nodded. She fumbled with my pants, I allowed her. She slipped her fingers after she succeeded with the button and the zip, her fingers brushing my front. The heat seeping through was shocking, the touch foreign and unwanted but I had purpose; I gave her what she wanted, I elevated her esteem with my own rise "You are the purity, Father"<br>"I am not"  
>"What sin could you have ever committed?" she sighed, moving intentionally over me. The heat shocked, it was unbearable and the easy calculation of the reactions it could elicit intoxicated a part of my mind, but the other part-the side that hurt, the part that mourned and bled for <em>her<em>; it cried out for help. I killed it as best as I could, but just like I was; it was immortal and would be forever and I would live this way; in an evil that held a conscious.

"So many that God himself may have to rewrite the Ten Commandments"

"I have killed" she murmured, her eyes boring into mine. "I have stolen life"

I remained silent.

"I fear children" she said so softly "I fear them deeply and today was a nightmare! Sister Margaret normally deals with the injections... and she was ill. I filled in for her, you see"

"You have killed" I pulled her away from her ramblings. "I have killed too"

"Not you!" she cried.

"Oh, but yes" I said "In my birth, I killed my mother"

She stared at my face, she closed her eyes after a minute before opening them filled to the rim with tears. She blinked and they fell over her flushed cheeks. She closed her eyes once more, her little heart thudding hard in her chest. She opened them and set them determinedly to mine and said "And if a mother kills her child?"

"Abortion is legal in America, Maryanne"

"I didn't kill it in my womb" she breathed. "I smothered it when it was two months old"

"Now, with such maternal instincts... you would be useless for what I had planned of you"

Xx~xx~xX

He emerged from the shadows, he expected to see some form of fear or shock on my face; I should be elbow deep in guilt, so terrified that he was witnessing me in the midst of this unspeakable act; Kilpa thought that finally, he held some leverage over me. I had seen him, I had heard his shuffling outside all while Maryanne downed the wine, confessed her sins, ruined my plans of a hybrid and sacrifice to the artefact and had had her neck snapped in the climax of it all.

I dumped her body onto the ground, her head lolling to a sickening angle and eyes wide. "Get the shovel in there" I pointed far off at the makeshift gardening shed. He blinked, dumbfounded by my instruction.

"You killed her" he breathed. "I had thought you would just sleep with her..."  
>"And you would report the act to some higher authority?"<p>

He silenced.

"Killing her was an easier option to sleeping with her" I sighed. "Get me the shovel"

"Get it yourself..." he frowned. I did just that, before he had made three blinks and negotiated an increase in his payment. "What...?"

"You humans" I sighed, pulling Maryanne up by the ankle and tossing her lightly into the air. I caught her easily, carrying her bridal style. He stared at the entire display in horrified shock; I had tossed the body like it were a rag doll, I had caught it like I was playing netball and I hadn't broken a sweat. He looked at me and shut his mouth. "At this point, Kilpa... your use is reaching its limit"  
>"I will not tell a soul!" he cried.<p>

"There is wine in the house" I said. "You can have it"

He nodded and went into the house, and by the time he had returned... I had dug a ridiculously deep hole in the garden patch and placed Maryanne's body in it. He sat on the porch in a state of fascinated horror, drinking the wine as though it were juice. I placed the shovel back in the shed when I was done covering the hole and retrieved a little fork and the tomato seeds Maryanne had given me.

"It's almost like we planted them together, Maryanne" I whispered, carefully planting the seeds.

"You are evil" Kilpa slurred. "...but you will still pay me?"  
>"In full, Kilpa" I sang "In full"<p>

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**I promised you a big bad villain, didn't I? This is only the beginning...**

***evil giggle***

**Xx**

**TJ**

**Next chapter titled 'Reaping'**

.


	9. Reaping

**REAPING**

**XX**

**X**

**We reap what we sow**

This was not something he wanted to exist between Peter and himself.

"...tolerating your insolence..." Peter hissed in Quechua, swinging the blade wildly in front of them. "If you would leave your _only _brother in the jungle, then go! Run John, like you _always _do and leave me to fend for our family..."

John didn't utter a word. He felt no anger at Peter's words; he had no fear of the jungle... these were the least of his problems; of _their _problems.

He wasn't as heroic as his survival suggested; it wasn't bravery born from a fear of death that had seen him enduring Rio but love and love alone that had miraculously brought him back to his mother. That love that he remembered in his mother, in his brother-their little family; he wouldn't leave Peter because Peter was all he had, all he cared about after everything he had been through and as a result, Peter had become one of two beings that anchored him to the world.

"I won't leave you" John sighed.

"And what!?" Peter spat, halting his slashing. He was heaving in front of John, his shoulders rising and falling heavily with each breath. "Shall I be _grateful _for that?"

John didn't need to see Peter's face to know of the violent offence spread over his features. They had been in the jungle for days now and he hadn't asked much; why they had to go in as deep as they did, into territories that were dangerous and wild-too deep to quit now.

"You _know_ the Priest" Peter's words were low and dangerous, a threat implied in each syllable.

John's mind's eye connected with cold red eyes. "No" he said quickly, deciding that his answer was true. He knew red eyes, not golden.

"You recognized him" Peter pressed "You knew him and the question that has been rattling in my brain is how _you _would know such a man" his tone was level even though accusation saturated each and every word.

"I do not know the man..." John felt the prickling of anger growing stronger in him with each moment Peter insisted on keeping him imprisoned in _atonement_, his every breath shameful and every action worthless. He pushed ahead of Peter and began clearing the way for them, slashing eagerly, hacking at the thick vines with pure anger, sweat escaping his every pore until it was washing down his torso.

In a flash, Peter had childishly charged back in front. John scowled at Peter's head, anger and shame brewing thickly in his heart but still... and always, his love was for his older brother was above it all. "I don't know the man, Peter" he repeated loudly and Peter responded with a series of mean short chortles.

"But I have seen _his _kind!" John snarled, swinging the machete carelessly, his vision blurring and refocusing, his minds eye constantly locked to a devil's red eyes.

"Yes, white men..." Peter sang, rolling his eyes "They must be littered in the city, dropping money on the pavement like sweet wrappers..."

"These men are more than just... _American_ or European... much more..." John muttered.

"Oh, it is not what you meant?" Peter laughed "That he is an _English_man?"  
>"He is no Englishman!" John hissed, turning his head sharply and peering over his shoulder. He was scared; not of the jungle, but the shadows in them, the darkness surrounding them as the days passed. "He is no man..." he breathed. "He is a <em>demon<em>"

"He is a man of God" Peter said coolly.

"Does he eat?"  
>"You saw him at dinner?" Peter scowled.<br>"Does he sleep...?"  
>"Who knows these things!" birds scattered up to the sky as Peter's laugh echoed through the trees, hidden nooks and caves of the jungle. "He is a man of God, a priest and we have <em>actually <em> played this man at his own game! They always come to our villages with promises..."

"What?" John frowned. He stopped the moment Peter halted his own walking and watched as Peter fumbled with something in his sling bag. Peter took out a notebook and showed it to John, grinning in satisfaction.

"What?" John repeated, a part of him fighting to hold on to naivety, to the safety of ignorance; he didn't want to put together the odd scenes from the week's happenings and form a conclusion. He didn't want to understand, he didn't want to know that the demons from Rio were everywhere...

"You and I are going to take that artefact and deliver it directly to the source. Cut out the middleman" Peter was grinning excitedly. He reached into his breast pocket and took out a worn paper...

John recognised it; Kilpa had given it to the _demon _at the dinner table. "You... the priest..." John gasped, shaking his head but his innocence was too much for the reality of the situation and comprehension floated up and settled itself neatly in his mind.

"The _demon!_" Peter laughed throwing the book over to John and resuming his slashing with new fervour and less ill-temper.

"You have never seen evil" John said slowly, thumbing through the little book. "You don't speak of demon as I do" he opened the first page and read as much as he could of the elegant script, pushing his English to its limits to comprehend at least a quarter of what was written. He read a single line over and over for a few seconds before looking at Peter, dread in his gaze "sacrifice" he breathed. "A sacrifice to this..."

"It speaks of an ancient evil" Peter explained.

"The only ancient evil left to the world is _them_! They are the _only_ evil and they contaminate everything-!"

"Shut up about _your _demons that were just about alcohol and cocaine... take responsibility for once in your goddamned life!" Peter snapped "He mentions the source, this _Lorraine_. Once we find this thing we give it to Lorraine. The priest was not even sure exactly what it is..."

"You have his book" John whispered in terror, following Peter in a daze. He closed the dangerous little thing carefully, as though it would blow up if handled wrong.

"While you were distracting the priest..." Peter began. "I took it"

"I was not distracting him!" John roared "I truly thought I was going to be prayed for, that I would be saved... that I was going to a _real_ priest not a demon!"

"He is a damned _priest_ and not a demon!"Peter hissed, his patience worn. "You need to stop with this bullshit!"

"...I thought my sins would be forgiven" John continued, nonplussed by Peter's fuming; his own anger and fear still on track and rising exponentially "Now this!" he waved the notebook.

"I did not distract him" John lowered his voice, his lower lip quivering "I was _his _distraction for you. You think you were planning against him but I tell you, he was planning your fate for you and you taking that book has sealed it. Us being here, has sealed our tomb..."

"You are full of shit!"

"He knew you wanted the map, Peter..."  
>"Shut up you coward!"<p>

"He left it all for you, Peter" John breathed "You are his lamb. His sacrifice to this..." John raised the notebook, waving it indicatively "This _ancient_ evil"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Peter swung his machete violently at John, who jumped back just in time, pushing through a thick bush before stumbling into a clearing, falling flat on his back.

"John...!" Peter cried, throwing the machete to the side and following his brother through the broken brunches and trampled bushes.

"I'm fine" John breathed, cautiously allowing Peter to help him up.

"We found it, John" Peter breathed looking about them, surveying the map once more. He pointed ahead of them and sighed "We found it"

It was a small clearing, with earth so dry and dead that it seemed to push the green life of the jungle away, suffocating the vivid breath of the plant life and in the middle of all its quaint desolation sat a giant crystal like rock, roughly higher than any average man and larger than a small car. It seemed to be planted in the dead dust and the crystallised quality of the rock held a murky core.

"There is _nothing_ here" John breathed. He was overwhelmed by the ash-earth clearing that held not a single semblance of life or green, not a shrub and not a weed.

"We camp here tonight" Peter removed is bags and eyed the rock hungrily. "Our problems have ceased John!"

"They have only begun" John said grimly, handing his brother the notebook.

"Here!" Peter flipped the notebook's pages quickly "He says the jewel can only be 'called forth' by a pure soul!"  
>"All I understood was that a priest is in search for an ancient evil"<br>"Your English is dismal" Peter spat. "We are all evil! Now, unload and set up a fire!"

John did as his older brother instructed, petulantly throwing the bags to the side, glaring at Peter while praying the stone would weigh a ton and be immovable.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

X

x

**RENESME CULLEN**

"I have become so accustomed to this, Annabelle... it really is nothing"

"Really"

"Really"

It gets to a point where that pain is so brief, flashing and flaring for that instant before retreating back into nothingness. It's a prickling and most times you can't help it, it's almost natural; being affected by words from those who will _never_ care. Those people who will never know what it's like to have tons of prickling that flare and flash and the hollowness that comes with every one of their retreats.

It becomes nothing, and that nothing hurts just as much as those words and hate filled glares. It's like a vortex that swallows up that pain, but it takes away a bit of happiness too. Every time...

"I couldn't imagine being in a place I wasn't wanted" she sighed. She looked back up at her grand home and scowled "At least here, I have my brother and my mother"  
>"It is your father who has no one"<br>"He has never needed anyone" she laughed, sprinkling the bread crumbs over the surface of the pond, the ducks immediately swimming towards them. "And yet everyone needs him"  
>"But do they <em>truly <em>need him?"  
>"He has made it that way" Annabelle's her eyes remained guarded as she locked her eyes with mine; that little war going on inside her-could she trust me with her vulnerabilities? I wondered if we were so alike that she would have been my form had I been human; guarded, cynical, alone and miserable.<p>

"They hate you" she said.

"They hate me" I agreed. "Even now after everything that has happened they will never trust me. In all honesty, I can't say I tried to atone for the crimes I committed under the imprint and my mother. In all honesty, I can't say I care for their pardon either. Who are they to me but distant relations of my son...?"  
>"Really" she said in the same dry tone.<p>

"Really" I smiled. "People are vultures and they will always feast on your weakness. They think they know what makes me weak, they feel I am an easy target so far from my father as I am... from my family. I am their sacrificial lamb... and the irony of it is that I _really_ am innocent. Well... at least this time around"  
>"Really?"<p>

"Really"

The fear of being alone was so great that I thought it would rip me up from the inside out. That fear, that dread made me miserable; it made me bitter and in that bitterness I repelled all. The irony of it, the justice in it and my pride would not see me rectify that disposition; I was alone, lonely and angry...

I watched them from where I sat with Annabelle; she was with me but she was alone too. Two islands unexpectedly laying side by side, separated by shallow waters; her humanness and my unstable hold on my humanity. I could hear their laughter and it was not how it used to be in La Push and the difference in it filled me with a nasty pleasure. We were all united in the misery we had found in the quiet Malwood...

Even if the degree I was in was infinitesimally more than theirs, I revelled in their discomfort. At least, for that minute of their misery, I cared to care...

Xx~xx~xX

I may be a little paranoid at this point.

"What were you and Maria discussing?"

"When?" Jacob doesn't turn around, shaking his t-shirt out before reaching over his head and putting it on.

"The other day..." I say and I hate when my voice decreases volume of its own accord, my body acting guilty; as though I had been spying on him. I hadn't... not really. "You were in the orchard..."

He turns around then, and raises his full eyebrow; how he can look wholly different and yet distinctly the same baffles me. I can see that he isn't the _imprint_ Jacob every time I look at him and were it had hurt before-so painfully because that was when I had realised I truly had no one-now, it fascinates.

It intrigues to think he is someone else and I wonder who exactly he is, if he is not mine and then I realise that there is an injustice in belonging to someone in a way that is above your own will, and yet that was all anyone wanted; to have someone, to be someone's...To belong...

To be me, and want to have someone and have no one, and have everybody refuse you...

"Nothing" he frowns. "I can't remember... you're a hybrid..." he waves his hand at me in disinterest, a lazy frown on his face "Why didn't you just listen in since you were _already_ spying"

"I wasn't spying"

He raises his eyebrow again, this time his lips pinch at one corner as he forced himself not to smirk in satisfaction.

"Really?" he asks.

"Really"

Xx~xx~xX

"I am failing to understand why you are upset?" we were back at the pond under Annabelle's insistence. The house stifled her mind after her journey to town, she claimed.  
>"Why aren't you?" she demanded. Her eyes are red, her face is red and I get a little thirsty. Annabelle is annoying me right now, and I look longingly out to Angela and Ms Erikson; they are laughing, holding dainty teacups and talking about the immaturity of men.<p>

Angela thinks I am a child, and as a result Anna Erikson thinks I am a child too. It feels like the apprehension of the wolves is contagious; like I need to phase too, badly, to let out some steam. I am three seconds from either smacking Annabelle or tilting her head and biting through her flesh...

"This was bound to happen..." I sighed. "It's illogical for me to act surprised about it or for anyone else to be surprised for that matter..."

"I wasn't talking about the _backwardness_ of the tradition of betrothal...!" she hissed.

"You share a culture very similar to that" I looked at her closely, saw the righteous anger on her face and smiled at how her eyes bulged and a strange _hurt _filled them to the brim"Are you yourself not betrothed, Annabelle?"  
>"How would you know of our culture?" she countered bitterly, all the blood in her face fusing out with her jumbled emotions; anger, pain... such human fumbling, such sharp flows of blood; her veins would be worn with the constant torrents.<p>

"I overheard your mother explaining to Angela how it is she and Philip fell in love" I rolled my eyes.

"You were eavesdropping weren't you...!" she hissed. I smiled and she frowned, looking away and composing herself quickly. She returned her gaze to me, determined and more in control and said carefully "You and him... you two were betrothed then?"

"Jacob?"

"Him" she smiled cruelly when she saw the flicker of my own control. I thought she was quite remarkable in her plainness, such a pure creature with her cunning. A fearsome human girl that knew how to survive. Her shrewdness seemed slightly too intricate, mildly unnatural even.

"Yes" I tried to smile but the corners of my mouth felt stiff.

"So Leah and Charles?" she looked in pain again. A reflection of me, as though thinking of the fact brought about such physical unpleasantness...

"You have feelings for Charles?" I asked.

"He can make out with whomever he wants... I just thought decorum would be in order? Witnessing such _sights_ as one is leaving their gates...!"

"If it were not Leah would your standing on the proprieties of public affection be a little less..._bothered_?" I laughed.

"My brother has a soft spot for her if you didn't know" she tried to disarm the target of our conversation; change the course of the concerns she had brought up, not to sway my hypothesis of her infatuation with Charles but to save her pride and retrieve her sanity it seemed. She didn't like the weakness in being rejected or the bravery of chasing after something you want for yourself. She didn't like to _feel_, it seemed.

She didn't like the unknown or change.

"It is unladylike to behave in such a manner... under the eye of your host?" Annabelle pursed her lips, formed the most conniving smile I had seen since Flora "Under the safety of a gentleman who is caring to your needs and those of your _many _brothers..."

"My, you are _quite _the little witch!" I laughed.

"You have no idea" she laughed too.

We resumed our silence once more, over feeding the already plump ducks while I cleverly ignored Philip Erikson's gaze from high up in his office, a glass of whiskey in his hand and a cigar in the other.

I ignored him but my unease grew tenfold.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**CARLISLE CULLEN**

It is a hot day. Nothing like the jungle-the sun is out with its cool heat unwelcome but harmless to me, harmless... but the sun is always too much for a vampire. Of course, Lorraine would not care for my discomforts for as far as she could care; any discomforts a vampire could have should and can only be permitted to stem from their demonic need for blood. The discomfort of moving through a city filled with bustling humans, this isn't a concern of hers and for me to voice it would be give more proof to my excessive abnormality in this abnormal form. To call upon me during the day, in a place where shade is a luxury, this isn't a concern of hers. To arrive with no warning in Lima when we had agreed to meet in Brazil...

Well, she had to show me she was in charge somehow, I supposed.

"As a vampire..." she let the door swing open, walking away from it and back into her hotel room. She was not alone but whoever else who was with her chose to remain hidden in one of the rooms "One would think you would be on time... do you not have a Rolex stapled to the side of your head or something unnatural and ostentatiously equivalent to that?"

"I was avoiding the sunlight" I smiled.

"Why, Carlisle... you should have worn a hat!"  
>I could wear you as a hat. I kept smiling, remembering that image of her fear when I was breaking in that little room chained to a that chair. I considered reminding her of that, bringing her back from the ignorance her selective amnesia had caused in her.<p>

Remember, Lorraine; I am a monster and it is only out of my grace that I have allowed you to forget. Mind your tone...

"Take a seat" she instructed, pointing to an ottoman by the window, centred in the sunlight.

"By the coffee table would do just fine" I sat down on the three-seater. "The ottoman is much too far for my three hundred plus year old legs, have pity on an old man..."

"Here!" her pleasantness had reached its limit, her little eyes narrowing and voice whipping through the air cruelly as she displayed a fifty something year old tantrum.

"Do not confuse my patience and sociability as weakness for I can assure you my dear, I am no pet!" I growled and she took a step back, pursing her lips and paling. Her eyes widened while mine narrowed, and I calculated the cost of insolence at this point in time with the little fat human woman. It was too early for it... "But if you insist..." I got up and smiled sweetly at her, and she released a breath, her eyes moving side to side in confusion.

I felt the warmth on my skin; I could see the shimmer of rays' bounce of my face. She was mesmerized for a moment, before remembering she was not supposed to find me attractive in any manner (as such with a high ranking general of Gods People), and carefully pulling the muscles of her face into an almost perfect look of disgust.

"Diane, dear..." she called. "He is here"

The other heart beat in the hotel room picked up its pace, and the dainty footsteps of a woman resounding from the left. Her left leg was bad and fell weakly onto the ground. She entered the room slowly, focusing her gaze on Lorraine; she knew who I was, what I was and was determined not to let it show that she was fascinated at finally meeting me.

"This is the _good _Doctor Cullen" Lorraine pointed at me, smiling smugly. I was sure the effect she was going for was delivered fully with me sitting in the sun, a gorgeous young doctor, an understanding priest and a worthy demon to any cause brought forth by man.

She looked at me, her eyes widened and mouth popped open. She looked at me, closely from her distance and awe filled her gaze. She looked at me for an indecent amount of time because she had never seen me before. She looked at me, and I looked at her for I knew her. I had seen her once, many years ago but the changes of age were geometric in humans and vampires _were_ arithmetical beings.

I calculated easily; her jaw, her eyes, her nose and chin and complexion to her height and when those computations had reached their end, I knew she was "Diane Lorde"

"Respect, Carlisle... she is known as Mrs Downey..." Lorraine was pleased that I knew the woman; she was pleased that she had surprised me yet again.

"What do you think you are doing?!" I was in front of Lorraine in a flash, my eyes boring into her terrified ones. I could easily reach for her plump neck, I could kill her, I could be done with so much and lose everything in the process...

"The _chip_ in your head, dear...is connected to my life...!" she stammered, gulping her fear and raising her chin up at me defiantly. "Go sit down by the window!"

"For the chip in my head and all its connection to your life, I think I prefer the couch" I didn't move.

"Unfortunately..." she didn't back up, although she wanted to badly. "The couch is reserved for our next guests... they tend to like to sit together... and I would not have you work them up with your _unnatural _flesh!"

I was back on the ottoman before she could blink, the sun unwanted on my skin and Diane Lorde's eyes horrified on my form. She sat perfectly still, her eyes round and mouth a frozen line.

"Doctor Cullen, you are the worst kind of evil..." Lorraine told me as she sat on the edge of the coffee table. She took out a little napkin from the inside pocket of her blazer and dabbed her forehead. Her hair was limp, some of it pasted to the side of her face. "An evil that was once good. You may think me weak and stupid because of my..." she paused her dabbing, and looked up romantically to the light feature on the ceiling "My God blessed _beating_ heart..."

"I assure you Lorraine, you have the root of my reaction confused"

"Turn her" she demanded.

"Why her!" I cried.

"Esme may have been your wife and lover" Lorraine murmured, the turn in her tone confusing me; she sounded sympathetic but it could have easily been patronizing. I cringed when she said her name; I fell into the image of Sister Mary asleep under a blanket of growing tomatoes. "But it is Edward Masen who kept your sanity and humanity intact. I know this now. You may be cruel from Esme's death but that humanity you cling to is threatening too much"

She flipped her phone open and pressed a digit "Come" she commanded. She looked at me and frowned "You and your conscious... even now? I will break it and make you useful..." she paused and leaned forward threateningly "If you want that revenge of yours!"

The door opened and tall men walked in. Werewolves; thin and fevered... and they carried between them what appeared to be a metal box.

"This... Diane..." Lorraine smiled sweetly at the petrified human "Is your maker. Do it Carlisle, now... and I will have her transported to a facility immediately and you can return to the jungle. The moment you have the artefact, return to Lima and you and I will go to Africa for one more thing"

"No, I won't do it..." I shook my head."He would never forgive me..."

"You are still considering _his _forgiveness?" she raised an eyebrow "That kind of indecision makes one wonder on your conviction with bringing justice to your love?"

"I will make all pay..." my voice was low, she hadn't heard it but I had and the sound of it, the way it coated the words-it scared me. It was monstrously calm, filled with sweet violence. I looked at her closely. "My conviction is all I exist for but this..."

"You will do it"  
>"...it is unnecessary"<br>"Contrary to what you believe, my pet, it is necessary for her to stay alive... your laws are our laws regarding knowledge of this world"

Justice would be found, and when I was done and knew every face behind the evil rolling out and I had my vengeance, I would have her plump head. "She does not need to be a vampire... what use is she as frail as she is? No... This is not to happen, she is dying already..."

"But that is why it should happen...!"Lorraine smiled. "Doctor Cullen, _Father_ Cullen... you must save her life just this once..."

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Malwood.

He couldn't see past the tree tops, a mass spread out before him that kept the rest of the world out of their strange lives, imprisoned them from ever knowing if there was another way of living; any other way would be dangerous at this point.

He looked back down at Annabelle and the girl, he looked to the left where his wife was revelling in having a new female companion to talk to; to unload too much of who they were to.

He drank deeply then walked away from the window and placed the empty glass in front of Dominic.

"Pour me another one" Philip instructed. "And tell me who she is"

"I don't know her" his son sighed, pouring the drink over the ice cubes. Dominic pushed the glass across the table and leaned back in his seat, scowling. "I know the wolves and they are good through and through... albeit with short tempers and very limited maturity"  
>"Good you say... I have reason to believe their <em>goodness <em>doesn't fair well in Malwood..." Philip laughed.

"Does any goodness every fair well in this town?" Dominic spat "We are innocent till conception"

"You and your misery" Philip sighed "Tell me about the red head"  
>"I don't know her" Dominic repeated exasperated. "If you are looking for a play thing..."<br>"She is Mr _Black's_ play thing" he drank and closed his eyes, recalled the beauty and misery of the girl. An easy creature to manipulate, a clever fairy begging to have her wings plucked. "I would not want to get on Mr Black's bad side when it comes to _her_ but I don't mind testing the waters with his wolves_..._"

"They are not like werewolves so I suggest you try and flaunt your meagre power somewhere else... maybe your wife...?"  
>"I am your father" Philip said stonily "Don't you forget it boy"<p>

"And I am the _werewolf_ of this family" Dominic growled. "It chose me"

"Even when it skips..." Philip sighed "It leaves a mark on every man who has it in his blood"

"Enhanced senses" Dominic scoffed "Hardly sounds painful and knowing you..."

"Yes, knowing _me_..." Philip cut him "It has helped me in so many ways. For instance, did you know that the man who resembles the girl you claim not to know... featured in your sister's dreams?"  
>Dominic remained silent.<p>

"Of course you know" Philip laughed scathingly "You three have your own support group against the _wicked_ Philip"

"You ruined her first experience with love..." Dominic said through clenched teeth "She can never trust you. She hates you"  
>"So you have <em>finally<em> told her she was fucking her half brother then?" Philip chuckled and when he was met with silence, he laughed further and with more glee "Of course you have not! None of you can tell her can you? I thought loving people meant always being honest..." he paused "I may be wrong... what with my lack of understanding of what it is to love and what not..."

He looked right at Dominic, daring him to say something... to add more on the crude delicate matter of Matthew Delong and Annabelle Erikson's sordid love affair.

When Dominic remained silent, his smile vanished and was replaced with a painful looking scowl " You think if you pretend to be like the people who live outside these walls, the people who live past these woods... the people you see on television... the _normal _people, it will make you normal? Your mother has spoilt you in shielding you from what you are... You are _Nobles...!_"

"You mentioned the dreams because they have _some_ significance...?"Dominic rolled his eyes lightly.  
>"She described it so perfectly" Philip whispered "He was controlling her in her sleep..."<br>"Hmm"

"You are not shocked by this and have no anger in you?" Philip sat opposite his son "You approve of such a violation of your sister's mind?"  
>"I am to believe your fascination has everything to do with Annabelle's safety and well being?" Dominic sneered "Spare me, father!"<br>"My concern is more a satisfaction. She wrestled him at one point... she said she pulled away eventually in this dream of hers"  
>"And of it?"<br>"A _normal_ person can never pull away..." he sipped his drink. "This whiskey is mighty fine"  
>"She is no werewolf" Dominic thought of Leah, thought of Atka's tribe...<p>

"It seemed the genes on both sides of your mother and I's family skipped us and landed squarely on our children"

"No" Dominic frowned. "The line of witches rests solely in the elders. There is no fifth generation..."

"Do not weigh your imagination with _prophecies_! We make our own destiny, our fates are not predictable any longer because no matter how hard your elders try... these trees cannot save our lives from intertwining with those of the outside world" Philip said sternly "And now, I suspect that the girl you and Jacob are protecting... will do wonders for my ascension"

"Why would you tell me this?" Dominic hissed.

"Because you can do nothing about it!" he snarled "The odds are against you boy! Three sins and you will be demoted! I count two so far..."

"I have done nothing...!" Dominic began.

"Rene the vampire, Matthew the missing and poor Annabelle's mind put to use!" Philip roared "How will you defend yourself, son... if you try and protect those who don't belong in our Malwood? If you bring danger here!?"

"I..."

"Banishment"

Xx~xx~xX

She held the cup firmly in her hands. Her heart was beating hard in her chest, she could feel sweat trickling down the back of her neck and the bun she had tied her hair in felt too tight on the top of her head.

Annabelle Erikson felt a cold fear in her heart as she stared at the cracked cup. Lines zigzagged throughout its cylindrical form, a weird pattern of 'about to fall' chips held in her hand and terrorizing her eyes.

She had done this with one anger-filled glance. She knew she had caused the cup to crack because this had happened before, only it had not been a cup that was fractured by her gaze; it had been the glass panelling of the French doors on the first floor balcony and behind that glass Matthew Delong had stood, laughing with one of the housemaids.

She knew what this meant; she had known it for a while now, known it since she escaped from the Hive with Dominic. A veil had been lifted from her eyes when she had found her fate entwined oddly with Charles Black; the stories her grandmother used to tell her of the magnificent nobles were all true.

_I have a choice_, she thought to herself. _Embrace or deny the truth of those stories._

She placed the cup back on to her dressing table and sat down. She reached above her head and pulled her hair out of its bun, mussing it with her fingers and shaking it loose before unbuttoning the first button of her gown and pushing the collar away from her neck.

There was a knock on her door, a soft one-her mother's knock. She looked at the door and frowned at it. They all thought she was weak, they all thought she was a silly little girl simply because she had been so stupid as to fall in love.

"Is it to say the strong do not love..." she said softly. She let her mother continue knocking for a few more seconds before she rose from her seat. When she opened the door, Anna stood stiffly at the other side with a plate of fresh cookies in her hand.

"I thought you would appreciate some company?" her mother smiled.

"You thought wrong" she didn't smile back and Anna Erikson had to push past Annabelle to get into the room.

"I thought just right..." Anna's voice was hollow. She went straight to the table and placed the plate of cookies next to the explicitly cracked but intact cup. She surveyed the cup for a second, frowning but said nothing about it. "A mother always knows what her child needs..."

"Is that so?"  
>"It is so, Annabelle" Anna's face was pale, her eyes wide and hair limp. "Your father knows..."<br>"Knows what?"

"What you can do"  
>"I can do nothing but sit in this house and die of boredom"<p>

"The forest talks to you... it whispers things to you" her mother said quietly but the weight her words held sent each word gonging through the air. "The things it says scare you and you hate being so near it"

"I don't know-" Annabelle began and her mother raised her hand.

"You went to retrieve Dominic's friends" Anna smiled.

"Any noble could do it" Annabelle swallowed, rushing to her dresser and removing the cup. She tossed it in her little bin and as soon as it hit the bottom of the bin its fractured form was ruined and tens of pieces replaced it.

"Nobles can leave... and return as they please" Anna retrieved a small worn book from her pocket and placed it next to the plate of cookies, in the place the cup had been. "But only witches can assure the trees of their intent, only they can bring in _visitors_ with no sacrifice required"

"Witches!" Annabelle spat.

"Your father knows" Anna sighed. She walked out of the room slowly and paused by the door "And he is as equally proud as he is jealous, just as he was with Dominic. Trust nothing he says, nothing he requests..."

"As it has always been?"  
>"You may want to be a little more passionate about it this time around" Anna sighed. "I fear blood may spill at the slightest sign of uncertainty"<p>

Xx~xx~xX

"You're avoiding me again" Charles sighed.

"I just think its best that all the wolves avoid each other" Leah continued sharpening the dagger, never raising her head.

"I'm not really a wolf"

"Yeah well... anything that turns furry when it's upset"

"You were upset..." Charles grinned "You didn't turn furry. You kissed me"

"I didn't really kiss you..." Leah paused her sharpening, raising her hands to illustrate the fact. "It was more like... I was trying to tell you something all hush like, and you leaned forward..."  
>"And then you leaned forward...?" Charles nodded his head in understanding, urging her on.<p>

"And... the velocity of your leaning, against mine was totally mistimed!" Leah laughed, a pitchy sound "And then... we..."  
>"You..."<br>"I..." Leah stammered, Charles leaning forward slowly, his eyes locked to hers while hers darted to his mouth.

"Kissed..." his breath wisped over her lips and they parted of their own accord.

"You..."

"Sorry to cut this right as it was about to get interesting..." Jacob growled standing imposingly by the door "But did you do what I asked you to do?"

Leah and Charles jumped back from each other, the dagger knocked off the table and spearing the timbre floor.

"Er..." Leah stammered.

"No, you didn't" Jacob guessed. "Incompetent hormone driven _fucking _imprints..."

"Look, Annabelle saw us..." Charles began.

"And... uhm, drove past us even though we were... flagging her down" Leah finished.

"You two can both move as fast as her fucking _Beetle...!_" Jacob snarled.

"Thing is, I can't phase... but he can zoom up" Leah said matter of fact, pointing accusingly at Charles.

"Throwing me under the Alpha, much?" Charles hissed at her.

"Fuck it!" Jacob roared, his heavy footfalls echoing through the cottage as he left.

Xx~xx~xX

He hadn't realised he was heading to the orchard until the sweet smell of fruit trees hit his nose... with Maria's perfume mingled in it. He stopped abruptly, the wind moving around him and swirling the smells; leaves, dirt, her, fruit and everything.

When had this become _their _place?

The question pushed away his anger at Charles and Leah failing to rein in the hormonal phase of their imprint; Maria was here, he was heading towards her... she had become his go-to place.

When had she become his go-to person?

"Jake?" she emerged from behind a short leafy tree, twirling a stalk between her fingers. She watched him, her dark eyes large and filled with secrets-he always felt she had secrets, even the human ones before The Company had abducted her.

She reminded him of the popular girls in Pebblestone High sometimes, but he didn't want to think she had that self serving goodness that pretty girls tended to have. It was a 'nice' cruelty, a 'sweet' evil that only teenage girls could master with accuracy and elegance.

The sight of her made his stomach tickle lightly, the way she looked at him made him nervous.

"You looked upset a second ago" she smiled, pointing behind him to indicate she had been watching him.

"You're getting better at being silent" he tried to smile back but his cheeks felt as hard as stone, the miniscule movement giving him a strange feeling. "Better at being..." sneaky, he thought. The voice sounded a little like Leah and just the tiniest bit like Angela.

He thought it had everything to do with Leah's indecision on how to feel about Maria with regards to his own uncertain feelings on the hybrid. It had mostly everything to do with Angela's sentiments that Renesme may take things... extremely... that he has a new friend.

He thought Renesme only barely cared; Big Bronze was too busy trying not to freak out about Malwood and being dead once.

"What are you upset about?" she pressed

"Leah and Charles..." he scoffed "I gave them one simple instruction and they were too busy giving each other googly eyes to carry it out!"  
>"Young love..." Maria said airily, dancing around him as they walked towards their spot.<p>

"Young... she's over forty" Jacob grumbled and Maria tripped "Doesn't look it, does she?" he smirked.  
>"That would make you just as old?"<br>"Ancient"  
>"Gosh, I have an old man fetish..."<p>

"You have a..."

She stopped, right in front of him and wound her arms around his neck, standing on her tiptoes "I have a Jacob fetish" she said. He couldn't move, he was staring right at her, right into her eyes and _not _imprinting but that didn't mean she didn't have control either; she had control, his brain had stopped working and he was waiting, anticipating...

"Would it be so horrible if _we_ did?" she asked him softly.

"Did what?" his voice was low and rough, shocking his ears that it had managed to escape his lips.

"If we gave each other googly eyes?"

"Sneaky" he said without thinking. She laughed her breath moving up to his face.

"It's been no secret Jacob Black" Maria sighed, taking a step forward. She leaned back and before she rocked forward on her tiptoes, she said "I like you" her lips meeting his motionless ones "A lot" she kissed him again, this time bringing her hands around his neck and securing them, pulling herself up to him and kissing him with control. His hands moved around her waist, wanting to pull her closer to him but unsure of that want.

Unsure of her, unsure of himself and unsure of where it was he had wandered to with Maria but all he knew was it felt good to kiss her right then. It felt good to have someone _like_ him... a _lot_, for a change.

For a moment, he was a teenager kissing a teenage girl... in a pretty fruit forest, with birds in the air and sweet smells dancing around them. It was lovely...

Then her hand wandered a little too south, her finger tucked inside the waist band of his jeans and the fruit forest turned dark, the bright sun hid behind a cloud and he gasped, "No..." into her mouth.

"I knew you were somehow scared of this..." she smiled knowingly and he blushed. "But it's okay"  
>"No..." he repeated, stammered. He wanted to move back but she held on to his pants, unbuttoning them expertly and his own resolve wavering with each pulse of blood. "No... I don't want..." his words drowned in his moan as she slipped her hand in his pants and rubbed him firmly once.<p>

"Oh, you want to... a _lot_" she kissed him again and he kissed her back, wondering behind the red flare of lust what exactly it was he was going to say and why it was he didn't want to do this... well...didn't want to mostly and each thud of his heart, each pump of blood in his veins that mostly diminished geometrically.

"No one will see" she sucked his lower lip "No one will know... and even if they did, what could they do? You are _Alpha_, Jacob Black... not some leader of a group of freaks. You are a king"

"A..." he couldn't speak but words thundered in his head, excited and afraid; guilty and unsure and when he opened his eyes to see where exactly it was that he and Maria had wandered to he saw wide umber eyes, terrified...

He thought he was looking into Maria's eyes and for a moment it calmed him to think they were equals in this; both afraid, but then he realised those eyes were far off, much too far... and they were terrified and hurt, bleeding pain right at him.

"Renesme...!" he pulled away from Maria, moved past her and reached out to the shadows of the forest. Renesme looked at him once more, a tear falling free from her left eye before disappearing into the woods.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**RENESME CULLEN**

I had never been lost...

Well, never been _literally _lost. I was above it, above lack of recall and circling the same area _twice._ Twice... was once too many.

"You know what's once too many..." my cheek smarted from where I had murdered the wayward singular tear "Heart break"

No one was listening, no one was here and I had somehow lost sight of the mansion, of the green manicured expanse of lawns with the flowers circling the fountains and roses lining the pathways. I couldn't even smell them; the air was not perforated with humans and wolves. Every tree looked the same, and when I tried to imprint a set of them in my mind, they seemed to treble in numbers when I looked back at them after moving away from them not a second later.

"He can kiss whomever he wants!" I uprooted the tree, winding my arms around the thick bark and tugging backwards twice. It groaned a little, its branches scraping against its neighbouring trees and roots snapping out of the earth a few feet around it. They looked like a thousand brown veins dripping dirt and moss. I tossed it to the side, glaring at it "I dare you to disappear now..."

What did I have to be upset about? There were more important things to worry about; this meeting with the elders, Philip's interest in me... God knows I had had enough of men wanting me to simply own me but right this instance, it felt safer for him to do that. After a few years, I had learnt to understand that particular side of men. Nothing sways a man from lust...

I had been counting my steps away from the uprooted tree. Twelve. Right through the trees, in a straight line. The sky was barely visible through the many weaving branches with their gloomy thick leaves. It was dark in here, and it would get darker in the night...

I was suddenly unsure on how my eyes would fair in these accursed woods. Would my sight be robbed? If it could have been, then my strength would have disappeared from me...

"The least you could offer is a bunny" I frowned. I was thirsty, viciously so... Jacob's blood long gone from my system and leaving me with a fierce hunger; as though he were a drug. Stupid _hormonal _Jacob...

I looked back and the tree was gone.

"No...!" I rushed to the spot, surveying the ground until I realised what had happened. The tree stood unassumingly upright, its bark bearing the indentations of my arms from where I had lifted it up...

But it was upright, its veiny roots safe in the earth and ground mildly disturbed.

It was as if I had danced around it and deluded myself into thinking I had uprooted it.

I was afraid, truly afraid now.

So I ran against the watching trees, around them and lost in them. I was being herded to a point, pushed towards something and I wasn't strong enough to fight the tide of trees, the evil of the woods.

I was afraid and running, at full speed which would have allowed me to cover so much of these woods but I didn't. I was in them, and at the end of it... finally, I came across a cabin.

And in the driveway, was Anna Erikson's car.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**CARLISLE CULLEN**

"They haven't returned yet"

Kilpa stood in the doorway, a bottle of alcohol in his hand and anger in his eyes. "But you have returned..." he swayed inside my house, glaring at the furniture before sitting clumsily by the table. He took another swig from the bottle, flinching lightly before slamming the alcohol back on the table.

"They have taken it and gone" he scowled. "You let them take it and leave"  
>"They have gone nowhere" I was in the shadows, the sweet taste of human blood crying for attention. Why was I denying myself if I had stepped so fully into evil regardless; Diane would be a vampire, <em>Lorraine's <em>undeniable vampire, loyal to any cause Lorraine would give her?

"And you know this because..." Kilpa began and I rose from my seat by the window, lighting another lamp and bringing it to the table he sat at. I sat down opposite him, and when I was sure he was engrossed in my presence, easily imagining the vision I was to him in the light of the candle...

I looked at him.

He gasped.

"Do you think they could escape my sights?" I asked him and he shook his head viciously, his eyes wide and filled with pure terror. "I have ears in the other villages too; Kilpa... and I understand that Peter has found himself in the eastern village... minus John. We will go there tomorrow and bring him back home..."  
>"Bring him back?" Kilpa asked.<p>

"Why, he is your brother?" I smiled. He paled.

"My...brother...?"

"He entered the village screaming blue murder, mad as a hatter... tales of a large creature that killed his brother John?" I leaned forward "He is mad, isn't he John?"  
>"I'm not John?"<br>"We need to get to him before anyone else does, John..." I whispered "You know how sensitive your brother's condition is... he needs to be brought home, to us where we can care for him and ensure the tales of what he has seen... are buried..." I leaned back, and looked outside to the tomatoes growing healthily, plump red things.

"I think I'd like to plant some green peppers, actually"

"Your eyes..."  
>"It doesn't matter" I sighed "It never did. I needn't have tortured myself all these years... red yellow... orange. It's all the same. Evil and good... they are the same"<p>

He didn't understand me, blinking his eyes in such a manner so he conveyed annoyance and fear simultaneously in the most remarkable way.

"Aren't you glad I spared you the two brother's fate?" I asked Kilpa.

His eyes were in horrified shock at all that had been said and revealed, his pale face coated in a sheen of sweat. He grabbed his alcohol, knocked it back for a minute and placed it back on the table, wiping his mouth and rearranging his fear.

"So I'm John, huh?" he asked, his voice raw.

I smiled at him and closed my eyes, remaining silent.

Green pepper and onions, and a mother and son set to rest.

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**It's been a long time coming, hasn't it. **

**xx**


	10. Fear Not

**FEAR NOT**

**X**

**x**

Xx~xx~xX

**EDWARD CULLEN**

X

X

"It didn't sound so bad" Jasper sighed. "He was in a village with humans. They trust him... he helps them. It seems he is no longer there though"

"He _truly_ is doing _mission _work?" Rosalie folded her arms over her chest, a thousand thoughts ramming into each other in her mind; rejection and relief the two prominent ones. It was better than anything we thought it could be; he was not the same but he seemed, for the most part, still good.

"Where had he gone, prior to his arrival?" Jane frowned. "What other information did you manage to get?"

"It is just as Raul said it was. He works with the other volunteers but mostly he interacts with the young men, helping them with forest work" Jasper moved over to Alice and secured her in his arms, kissing the top of her head. "It would make sense... the organisation is called 'God's People', after all"  
>"And they happened to have sworn to right the order of the world and have vampires eradicated or worse...!" Isabella hissed "They would have us <em>submissive<em> to them!"

"Mission work, love" Jasper shook his head "That was all I got, just as Raul said. But if you think that your interactions and interrogations of humans is more... effective than mine..." he pointed at his blazing golden eyes and grinned at Isabella's criminally red ones "Be my guest"

"Not to mention the fact that Jasper's gift ensures that no human will go and prattle about it and rouse Carlisle's suspicions" I sighed.

"My gift would have been more effective" Jane pouted.

"Your gift would have killed the human"  
>"And that's the efficiency of it" she grinned toothily. "I hate games of chance"<p>

"I hate games period" Rosalie shuddered "Why not just... haul him out of there?"  
>"He would fight us and the humans would see" I whispered, remembering his true strength when he had pushed me off of him.<p>

"We could restrain him..." Emmett broached.

"Do not delude yourself" Jane surveyed her nails "Age is not just a number with vampires. The older a vampire the more easily they burn, the more potent their venom and... if they are pushed to it, they can access the true potential of their strength. It increases in negligible amounts over decades... but when a vampire is a few centuries, those amounts can hardly be called negligible when added and released. Of course, given Carlisle's general sissy quality, I doubt he has a lot of it or that he has released it _all_ but regardless... we have two laws; the first one cannot be risked. No humans should see"

"You said 'access'...?" I asked her.

"I haven't forgotten what I have said, Edward" she rolled her eyes.

"Elaborate!" I groaned.

"Access the true potential of their strength" she repeated slowly as though I had a mental condition. "Most century-plus vampires only access a meagre amount of it after a traumatic experience, a cruel combat... etcetera..." she rolled off bored. "Nothing to worry about really, like I said... your master is a sissy, and only two vampires have ever managed to take all of it at once"

"It is like stored energy... I think" I answered Emmett's mental curiosity. "Think of our skin as solar panels and think of time as the sun..."

"You know nothing of vampires and everything of humans" Jane sneered "How do you care to save our race when you are so in love with the enemy?"

"For a long time I did believe that we were the enemy" I said "To them and to ourselves"  
>"All we do is kill a few to satiate the thirst" Jane sighed "Can hardly be called an evil. After all, they breed like rabbits. Ten dead, twenty more born..."<p>

We were moving through the trees at a constant pace, spread out loosely and forming an arc. I could see the map drawn out by Raul of where Joham's territories would be spread out. We were to straddle that line, take one more day to establish if any of Lorraine's people were near Carlisle and then we would capture him.

"How does that theory affect... hybrids?" Alice murmured.

"Theory?!" Jane spat. "Hybrids _were_ a theory..." she trailed off. This was as agreeable as she could be. It could be possible that realising there were true enemies out there outside of petty jealousies and ignorance, realising this had united us.

"Hybrids are weak" Isabella said in a tiny voice. I looked at her and she avoided my gaze, Jasper sensing shame in her. I was angered as a few reasons to her shame came to me-reasons that were unsavoury and lacked honour-but I shut that anger off.

"Elaborate" Jane imitated my tone, grinning. She was enjoying this excursion beside herself, this was what she had been brought into this life for after all; she was at her purpose.

"They are weak" Isabella repeated. "They wouldn't be able to... store energy... in their skin like a vampire..."  
>"Because their skin is not layered as ours" I guessed. "They..."<br>"Bleed" Jane laughed, skipping in childish glee. "Their skin is layered outside like ours, but only slightly... is that right, Isabella?"  
>She nodded, looking at me in fear. <em>I just realised, Edward... only now, I didn't know...<em>

I didn't know whether I believed her or not. I looked away from her, fear for Renesme filling me... but then I thought of Jacob. I wished I could push a thought to him from where I was; protect her, please, protect them...

He would protect her, protect them both. I had no doubt about that... imprint be damned. It was strange to think that I had gotten this far where I would feel relief in knowing the treasures and sole energy of my life-my daughter and grandson-were in his care.

"Human and vampire tissue" Emmett frowned "Of course. So... male hybrids would be stronger because of their venom?"

"God's People want male hybrids, don't they Isabella?" Jane smiled. Isabella nodded tersely, her face grave; she was thinking of our daughter as I was, I had no doubt about that. She didn't know the strength the unimprinted Jacob Black contained as I did.

A part of me wanted to ease her mind, to have her think of the task at hand and our foremost agreement with Aro; this was going perfectly-it seemed there would be no confrontation with werewolves or vampires but only Carlisle...

A part of me wanted this but then I thought of her past sympathies towards me. A silly petty thing to think of but there it was; she had been most cruel, had she not?

"...we should capture the male hybrid" Jane announced suddenly. She stopped just as abruptly as her thoughts had come to her, and all pleasantries and childlike excitement at our hunt gone, she growled low "We will cross into Joham's territory and get the boy. We need only two vampires to escort him back to Raul... oh, but we can't be sure if Raul will agree to keep him there while we retrieve Carlisle..." 

The way her mind worked. She had been born to this purpose after all; a _general_.

"That isn't part of the assignment..." Alice growled.

"If the human's retrieve him, we would have given them an unnecessary advantage in their research" she said austerely "If we take him we could force Joham into an allegiance with us. Bolster our..." she looked at me in disdain and then at Rosalie before finishing her disappointed gaze with Alice "...pathetic forces"

"Joham has werewolves" Jasper murmured. "Trained ones..."  
>"So do we" Emmett said.<p>

"Jacob is not a..."  
>"I know Jacob is not a werewolf... god, making jokes doesn't make me an idiot. I meant the <em>other<em> ones... from Lynn's cabin" Emmett cut Isabella.

"That's two..." I said "Dominic is a full blooded werewolf and Katherine isn't"  
>"Difference?" Isabella raised an eyebrow.<p>

"Think 'Alpha' rights and 'Beta' rights" I explained "Size, control, speed..." I twirled my hand with each word. "The ones born werewolves get to be Beta's and Alpha's while those bitten are... much _much _weaker"

"And the polar bears?" Alice asked.

"Only Atka joined the pack, if I understand" I sighed.

"You amaze me" Jane smiled. "You've made more friends? What is this about polar bears... interesting...!"

"It is all beside the point" Isabella sighed "We should stick to the task at hand! We need to return to America. We need to return to Renesme...!"

"If the humans want Nahuel..." Rosalie snarled "Best believe they'll want Charles too!"  
>"But we have the... <em>your<em>... freaky grandson?" Jane sighed, touching her neck-a memory of Charles attacking her at the old farm arising. "We get the other hybrid and we have a collection!"

"You cannot just disembark..." I began.

"Rosalie..." Jane said sternly "You see the benefit of retrieving Joham's heir?"

Rosalie didn't answer but she didn't need to.

"I will go with two from my team" Jane said "If Rosalie has seen the benefit, maybe she will assist me" Jane smiled "Make this a... group effort and such?"  
>"She will go" I answered Rosalie's thoughts and raised my hand for Emmett not to voice his disagreement. "We will meet you in Raul's territory"<br>"Happy hunting!" Jane called.

"Don't worry, Em" I sighed "Nahuel is under no protection, I am certain. Their retrieval of him will have no objections... and if so, it would be Huilen..."  
>"If she was dumb enough to reunite with that <em>prick<em>!" Emmett spat, thumping his fist into his left hand. "If anything happens..."  
>"Nothing will happen" I said.<p>

The danger was ahead of us, not from where we were coming from. The danger and all objections lay around Carlisle Cullen.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**RENESME CARLIE CULLEN**

X

It finally ended.

I felt no relief when I saw the cabin; it sat there, dubiously and filled with intention. Anna Erikson's car being in the drive way did not fill me with relief either. She would have been able to help me I suppose, she knew the woods; the cabin could be one of many they had littered on the lands.

But her car being there, the driver's door left swung open and the steady beep of the car's alarm; it made me want to return to the maze of trees, to the torture of the woods and the smell of secrets and malice.

I closed the car door carefully, sure to take the keys out of the ignition first.

I wished I could ignore every instinct inside of me and be completely human in that moment and not _know_, but there it was, I had knowledge; there was danger, I was in danger and it was bad. This was bad. I had been herded here, I was right where _it _wanted me and Annabelle's mother was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Why she has to be a busy body..." I muttered. I looked back to the trees and they grinned at me, leisurely stalking me. A cat playing with its prey...

"Bad... bad... worse" I breathed, walking up to the porch. There were no tracks in the dirt, no smells or any inkling on what the scene could possibly be. The door was open and at its entrance a trail of blood rolled through the house like a red carpet. My throat roared but when my nostrils flared to pick up the scent, it was _dog_.

Safely dog...

"Anna, you silly girl" I opened the door wider and stepped carefully across its threshold, skipping over the red brown smeared on the timbre.

"Mrs Erikson...?"

She was standing in the middle of the lounge wearing a black coat, her hair wild and one of her beloved Labradors dead at her feet. She twitched a little at the sound of my voice.

The place was a mess, coated in dust and old smells; all of it hung heavily over the ugly furniture. It looked nothing like the other large cabins and cottages scattered around the Erikson Mansion; this one was low budget, this one had no thought put into its decor; this one was forgotten, lonely and miserable.

But not entirely forgotten it seemed, with Anna standing peculiarly in its centre.

"Anna?" I called. She made no response. "Mrs Erikson?" I rushed to her and touched her shoulder, forcing her to face me. Her eyes were blank, a bruise spread out over the left side of her face, the eye there swollen and lip sporting a cut. She had been whacked really well or fell strategically into an awaiting smack...

For a moment, I feared that she was bleeding. The hand that held the leash was coated in dried blood and before I could control myself, my nostrils flared and she was in danger so suddenly; but the blood was all _dog._

Luckily for her, I was pre-programmed to disassociate canine blood to food. The reminder of this pricked at my heart exquisitely and I remembered my smarting cheek and the murdered tear drop. It made me hate Jacob more, my misery and loneliness multiplying itself so I became just as wretched as the dead dog.

"Anna!" I shook her and she started, taking a step back from me. She took two more large steps to the right, never releasing the leash so that the dog dragged after her.

"Where am I?" her voice quaked, a weak panic in it.

"Your car is outside" I said softly, moving towards her. She backed up for each inch I came closer to her so that by the time I had reached the spot she had been in... she was by the mantle over the fire place. Blood trailed across the floor. The dog's innards were exposed and lacking steam; it had been dead a while.

.

"Anna I think you drove here" I told her. Her face was pale, her eyes wide and parched mouth ajar as though she thought to scream but was not sure how to do it. "Did you kill your dog?" I asked her carefully.

She realised she was holding something, raising the leash up to eye level then her eyes followed it down until her inspection landed on the dog.

"Rover!" she cried, dropping the leash as though it burned and scrambling away from the ugly scene that had been at her feet.

"Anna..." I said slowly but she wasn't listening. She was lost in hysteria and I was jealous of it; I didn't have the luxury of that level of panic for I knew all too well what _dangers_ the world could offer. I knew all too well what it meant to survive and surviving meant eliminating as many weaknesses as possible.

Panic, was allowed. Hysteria was for Opera.

Her terrified movements in her human clumsiness caused her to move into the trail of dog blood and she slipped; her right leg whooshed into the air, her hands flailing to her sides and left leg landing awkwardly back down...

I could see it easily; her hitting her head on the corner of the mantle, causing her to fall at an angle on the hearth; cracked skull, broken ribs and with the majesty of her misfortune there would be blood escaping from _somewhere..._

"Careful" I caught her mid fall. She wouldn't have seen me coming and through her fear, she knew this and it was etched on her face; a strange bemused expression pushed her initial horror away.

"How did you do that?"

"How did I save your life?" I righted her, leading her to the couch "You could have died, Anna... cracked skull or blood loss via neck wound..." I murmured, smoothing her hair "There, all better. Now, tell me, do you know how to get out of these woods?"

She looked up at me and then turned green. I scowled, annoyed intensely by this development and in three seconds she hurled on the thread-bare throw. I smelt it and it was too much; the old scents, the dead dog and this...

"I don't know where we are?!" she wiped her mouth with her sleeve, looking around the place "How did I get here?!"

This was not good. It had been bad in the forest and now it was worse; it was so pathetically worse because I could almost feel the tide of an oncoming tragedy; we would both die together, or she would go first.

"Anna..." I said slowly and she tried to maintain eye contact. It was fascinating to watch, her panic and flimsy hold on our current reality; I had seen it many a time in many a human, mostly when they were about to meet their deaths.

They would meet their deaths in my arms, in Nahuel's arms... in _some _vampire's arms.

The thirst flared at the memory; the danger Anna was in was doubled with that but then she rose from the couch, tripped her way towards the door, muttering how she couldn't trust Philip, how Annabelle was in danger...

I watched her for a moment; she had forgotten about the dog and was focused on a cause. I followed her slowly, perplexed by all these reactions and annoyed by them all the same; her vomiting, her fear, her sudden anger and amnesia. She was no use, if only to serve as fuel to hasten our deaths.

Maybe I should be done with her; kill two birds with one stone; a bumbling human and the thirst...

"Anna!" I called. She didn't stop, shuffling over the ground and determined to reach her car. I followed swiftly, overtaking her and blocking her entrance to the driver's side. I could feel the keys in my breast pocket but still, I felt as though she could do danger if allowed to get into the car. "Anna, what are you thinking?"

"Move, Rene" she stuttered, shaking her head from side to side, her eyes roving the area aimlessly.

"It's not safe Anna" I wanted to go back inside the cabin; I wanted to be away from the trees and away from the oncoming night-they would descend upon us, and we would be wrapped up in their darkness.

"This is a set up" Anna muttered. She looked at my face, down at her shaking hands and back to the cabin.

"I have no doubt about that" I sighed.

She paused, full awareness spread on her face and she said firmly in an even tone "Oh, Rene... this is a set up! My life has meant very little for a very long time! My daughter, oh if Philip gets his hands on my poor sad Annabelle... oh... no!"

"You said Annabelle was in danger...?" the logic of what she was saying bounced in my mind but for some reason, it blurred and tornadoed into a thousand insanities...

"My dear..." she laughed gently "Annabelle is of Noble blood. Noble blood is the most difficult to spill in Malwood. Regardless... Philip is always a danger to anyone he shows an interest with and of late, he is interested in our daughter's well being.."  
>"But are you not of Noble blood too...?"<br>"I have been at deaths door one too many times" she said "He knows me by name"  
>"I have died before" I said rapidly, sounding like a little girl. "He knows me intimately"<p>

"Then you are prepared to die again" she smiled.

"I don't see why we should make it easy for _them_" I said through clenched teeth. She nodded, still smiling and I realised we both had reached a similar level of hysteria that saw us sane to one another, comprehending and following our rambling dialogue with ease.

We stood in front of each other for a second, my mind lost in a past were there had been so many '_thems';_ a place in time when everyone had been a potential enemy, a traitor, an informer... someone who wanted to hurt me. While standing with Anna, outside a forgotten cabin in these malevolent woods, I realised that I had unwittingly returned to that past.

Paranoia; something about it was worse than hysteria. It may have been that there would still be logic in it, reason and sanity. The pack hated me, really... _really_ hated me. Maria... oh, heavens she had her claws so firmly in Jacob's skin and if this Jacob was anything like my Jacob then she would have him. He was never one to do things in halves; love, lust or hate.

"Let's go back inside" I whispered "And get you cleaned up"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**CARLISLE CULLEN**

**X**

**X**

What had I been afraid of before my children, before Esme...? The fear may have come when I had awoken, when my hands had risen up before my eyes, the white fingers unclenching and finding their way around my neck... clawing at the hard skin, trying to pull the flames out of my throat...

Trying to murder myself because I could feel it coiling inside me; a hidden beast, a lurking monster... and I had been afraid of it. My father had warned me of it from birth and it had found me; that fear, I was it... I was afraid of being... it...

"Being a demon?" I thought. I was what I feared, and now the question of eternity was... did I fear myself?

"...no..."he stammered.

"You are accusing me of being a demon?" I repeated, smiling at Peter. He was pale, he was afraid... not of me... although he believed, now, that I was a demon. The women around him murmured their reproach, shaking their heads in disbelief of the crazed man's words against the kind hard working _beautiful _priest. "The irony? Eh, John? A demon hidden beneath a priest's robes..."

"You are an angel!" one woman dared. I smiled at her and she reddened, touching her chest and smiling smugly at her peers.  
>"Eh?" Kilpa had almost forgotten that he had been christened with a new name. He blinked absently at me, then surveyed the frazzled Peter. "Hmm, my brother has had a very... hard time... of late"<p>

"Very hard" I agreed gently. "Peter... John is right here. He is not dead. There was no..." I said wearily, shaking my own head in worn sympathy-a sympathy that had to prevail through these hard crazed times with the young man, as it was to the people gathered around us.

"Beast" a dark skinned man said loudly. "Beast" he repeated, scowling at Peter. "He is from the village you came from?" he asked me, hostility in his eyes. He met my gaze and that suspiciousness wavered minutely, tilting into fear before settling into something in-between; deep wariness, distrust of the highest order; this man, would be a problem later on if any vampires visited this paranoid village.

"They want to steal business" a younger man by his side snarled. Of course, my understanding of their language was good, but I reached my limits when the dialect changed into something distinctly ancient and they broke out in loud quick arguments, the elders hushing the youth and accusing Kilpa of something... something worse than losing one's mentally unstable brother.

I had not anticipated this; why would they want to keep Peter here, if he were crazed and a threat to their tourism with his horrific tales?

"... so let me take him from you then!" was all I managed to understand from Kilpa. Kilpa had risen, his face glowering and eyes angered and dangerous. The women had scurried out of the room, Peter had bowed his head and began whimpering for his dead brother...

"Gentlemen?" I raised my hands and stood up, signalling for Kilpa to back down. "Peter's words may be disturbing to the guests in your village and even to you... but they are the words of a deeply disturbed man, a man who needs to return to his family and to the care of those who love him"

"White men..." the dark skinned man shook his head. He raised his left hand, a knife in it, and rested the flat side of the blade against his temple. It was a rudely made blade, sharp and inelegant as any weapon a hunter would carry; it winked the tiniest bit in the dim light and Kilpa tensed. "You come to these lands, explore and think you know it better than we, its children?"

"He stays until we know he speaks insanity" an older man breathed.

"Could his words _be_ anything but insanity?" I asked and received no answer save for further distrust. I had gone out of my way to shed the aura of terror I naturally carried in order to be welcomed in these parts; and although they now showed me impudence with their daringness to try and intimidate me, I doubted if I would have uncovered as much as I had without appearing harmless.

The Quileute had guarded their own secrets, even from vampires that lived across a precarious border... what more of these tribes that resided in jungles that were legendarily coiling with mysticism that not even the most ancient of immortals had uncovered.

And I was on the brink of it, was I not? It filled with me with pleasure to think this and I smiled, pushing my impatience back down.

I should have known after my experience with the Quileute that there was always more to a story than what was perceived by eyes.

The quest for this precious enigma was costing me my patience with humanity with each second, and I could feel the demon coiling in me further; it wanted to claw and strangle me; if only to kill that humanity and free it's self fully.

I could be done with it, and kill the lot of them... but there would be no survivors in the wake of my merry spree.

Xx~xx~xX

x

Xx~xx~xX

**RENESME CULLEN**

**X**

**x**

"This was someone's home..." I said softly. The picture had a woman in it, and in her arms was a small boy. She wasn't smiling and neither was her son... it had to be her son. I handed Anna the picture and she took it gingerly, almost in fear. She wiped the dusty glass and surveyed the wooden chipped frame before looking at it carefully.

"Yes" she whispered "Yes, of course. This is a home"

"Whose?" I asked. She was wrapped in an old blanket I had found in one of the rooms; everything was covered in dust but what was most eerie about the cabin was how it seemed that its inhabitants, whoever they were, had left abruptly or simply vanished. The beds were still made, food gone way past rotting in the fridge, pantry scarcely spotted with odd cans and packets...

"The Delongs, of course" Anna looked up at me. She had paled again, her skin pasty and forehead shining. "Rene... why I would drive from the house to this place... why I would do that is... bizarre"

"Who are the Delongs?" I asked and then shook my head, the name floating up in my mind from the vampiric memory box it had been stored, along with the wayward bit of gossip attached to it. "Matthew Delong"  
>"Matthew Delong" Anna moved to the couch and I handed her the cup of tea. "I have noticed how close you have become to my daughter..."<br>"I wouldn't call what Annabelle and I were doing as 'bonding and braiding'" I cut her with a snort.

"You are both immersed in your miseries..." Anna smiled. "It may not have been conventional but it was _bonding_ in its own way. Well, if she did not share it with you, I will tell you anyway. She found herself alone with Matthew, in a place once... and she mistook that place as love"

"And you know that she mistook this place as love... how?"

"Because I am her mother"  
>"<em>Mothers<em>" I scoffed, sitting opposite her and bringing the cup to my lips. I hesitated in drinking the liquid, suddenly reminded of Diane. I looked down into the cup and saw a haze of my reflection in the brown liquid. I sipped it quickly.

Which way wasn't dying? Poison, drowning or werewolves; the outside was such a darkness that my supernatural sight couldn't pierce it; supernatural to supernatural, it cancelled out. I was in the ordinary in this cursed cabin.

The tea was bitter but Anna seemed to enjoy it, pouring more from the little tea pot.

"Mothers don't always know what is best for their children" I said slowly. "With my... my son..."  
>"You have a son?" her eyes brightened at this "How old is he?"<p>

I thought to tell her the truth but then the thought was squashed by that reminder of her errant panic tendencies. The mother of werewolves had broken down at the sight of her gutted Labrador. I looked at her closely and thought of my own mother, whom I couldn't trust with my own life let alone that of my son. Anna seemed so different; I wished I could have had her as a mother; constantly badgering Annabelle about exploring other hobbies outside of ducks and horses.

"With my son..." I ignored her question "I trust..." Leah, I realised. "My heart and not my mind; that which settles my heart guides me..."

"It makes sense in its own way" she smiled. "Anna has always been... difficult. She was born in the worst years of Philip and I's marriage"  
>"The worst years?" I smiled. "I understand <em>that <em> about marriages"  
>"You are full of mysteries, Rene" Anna smiled. "I had always known of Philip's affairs, you see. Honestly, I was concerned when you appeared in the house! He loves lovely rare beauties..." she raised the picture once more "She was lovely and rare once... Matthew Delong's mother"<p>

"She was much older than I" Anna continued with a sigh. "I found out about her through Philip's mother and from then, I was instructed to keep the family safe. To keep the Erikson blood line safe. It is a Noble woman's duty to do that..."  
>"Duty is over rated"<p>

"You are young" she laughed. "Duty is all you have, when there is nothing else"

"You... kept her here?" I said slowly, looking around the place with a new interest.

"I think I did" Anna sighed. "This cabin is far out from our property... How could you have gotten here by foot Rene?"

I didn't answer her, glancing to the sheet of black outside.

"If you came from the Erikson Manor then Malwood Forest brought you here, Rene" Anna smiled sadly. She placed the picture down and touched her cup thoughtfully "That said and revealed, this only reaffirms my fears"

"That this is a set up?"  
>"Yours mostly" she sighed "But I can't help but wonder..." she touched her bruised eye gingerly "If I've been reduced to nothing but a pawn in these games. What do you think, eh?"<p>

I remained silent, the dread on my tongue so bitter... but it may have been the tea. My skin chilled besides the freely burning fire in the fireplace; it meant nothing in the face of my terror and the anonymous calamity I had run straight into.

"A pawn is easier to kill than a queen" Anna groaned "Oh, the demotion and shame of it!" she let her head fall into her hands and said " A Noble woman will do whatever it takes to protect her family"

"We have reached the end of the night" I whispered, as soft as the words were... my fear made the effort of uttering them exhausting. "I was the lamb herded to this point, not you"

"Impossible!"

"But it is possible" I fell back in my seat resignedly. When I closed my eyes, I saw Diane yet again; I saw the drum and felt the pull of my own blood leaving my body and filling that drum. I shivered, the terror screeching in my brain but I was too weak from the impact of the fear to give any other reaction save for indolent despair.

"Here I am" my voice shook "Cornered. And here you are... a wolf in sheep's clothing"

"Impossible!" Anna rose from the chair, her eyes blazing with righteous indignation, my words blasphemous to her ears and understanding of who she was morally.

"I am to kill you" I told her slowly and her eyes widened, darting left to right as though I would have left an obvious weapon in the little living room to murder her with. As though I would need a weapon...

"If you would kill me, who would be the lamb then?" she rasped.

"I am to die too, don't you see?" I told her. "Anna... you are not in control of who you are. It is apparent. The bruises on your face... the way they are laid out... you hit yourself. Your knuckles are bruised too"

There were howls around us suddenly; eerie lonely ones that grated through the smooth darkness outside. They were not _wolves_, of course. These lands were for the wild and tortured; werewolves surrounded the cabin. There was movement, actual earth movement and I knew, without a doubt that the woods were making their final move.

"Anna..." I looked at her closely and that bitter dread intensified into something worse.

Her eyes were blank and in her hands, she held an old dirty knife. For the life of me, I didn't know where that blade had come from.

"Anna...?" I tried again. The look of vacancy remained and it scared me. I thought to get up, I thought to get to her and shake her out of it; as I had done before when I had seen her standing peculiarly next to her dead dog but I couldn't move.

I vibrated in my seat as my speed and determination slammed back into me, and nothing. My very feet felt petrified to the ground, to the cursed soil beneath the floor...

"We know what you are!" a dozen voices spoke through Anna Erikson's mouth, the knife held against the side of her neck.

Her fingers wound around the handle of the knife firmly and held it steady, her eyes blank. "Anna don't..." I tried again but it was done in one smooth motion. I stopped breathing and closed my eyes. Anna was walking towards me, each foot fall deliberate.

"Anna don't...!" I cried feebly. Wet fingers touched my lips and when I wouldn't part them, they pushed with definite supernatural force.

I tasted blood.

Xx~xx~xX

I didn't know any other kind of strength.

I always had to be strong for myself; I always had to be my own hero and my own rescue team. There had been that moment, when my father had saved me; when my family had found me in the middle of my shame in that club.

I hadn't recognised the strength their being there had stirred in me. It had been brief, fleeting and unnoticed and now it was but a honeyed drop on my already parched tongue. It stung to know there were such sweetness's; it hurt to know that there were other kinds of strengths like that.

The pack looked up at me from the ground and I avoided their accusing gazes.

I was crying, tears had fallen from my eyes, over my cheeks, down my chin and onto my shirt and I hadn't willed them. I was crying, tears were falling but inside I was not hurt. Inside, the pain that was there was familiar; expected, and it did not hurt.

I've been here before many a time, how dare I be shocked that I had come full circle once more.

"Death knows you intimately, you said?" Anna Erikson whispered from Philip's side. The blood seeped through the scarf tied securely around her neck, her skin pale and eyes fevered. The taste of her blood remained; the taste of the poison in it remained on my tongue too. I wiped my mouth again, for the hundredth time and when I removed my hand it trembled. Was it fear, was it shame... was it the poison?

"Anna, please...!" Angela pleaded and Anna tutted, shaking her head. "She's... she's like Annabelle to me. She is like... my daughter. You can't do this... don't let them do this!"

"It's my fault" Angela sobbed. It was a sight as wretched as any; there she was, at Anna Erikson and Philip Erikson's feet, begging for my life. Around her, the Council of Malwood stood, the Elders of these magical mean lands. I was before them, damned as I had always been. To my left, the pack was constrained by invisible forces that stopped them from phasing... and around us all were werewolves.

A sight, as wretched as any... and I were at its centre; the wretch.

No Heroes. No Prince Charming. No father and no mother.

"I told Anna...!" Angela wailed. "I thought I could trust her... I thought..."

"She is my _wife_" Philip smiled "Sworn to protect her family by our laws. And our laws are tangible. They run in our blood"

"Edward will forgive you" I whispered to Angela.

"Wh...?" she paused, rising from the ground. Two men immediately tensed beside her, ready to restrain her if she tried to run to me once more. "I don't care about you because of _Edward_, you silly girl...!" she spat. Humans and their hysteria, beautiful and befuddling... and she _was_ human. Beautifully so. I could see it now, Edward's fixation; this was another strength and one that we _immortals_ would never know.

Living in the moment as it was, and how could we know; we were dead for eternity.

"I care about you because I can!" she pressed her index finger to the centre of her chest.

"Feelings as precious as they are..." Philip twirled his hand "But if we can end this as quickly as possible. We have a council leader meeting next and Anna is dreadfully tired and... traumatised...? Mr Fredrick?"

"Jacob Black needs to be called out" Mr Fredrick's voice boomed. He was tall, thin and ancient. He had a mean look about him and his eyes shined with too much energy.

I closed my eyes and tried to trace the journey here. His kiss with _her_, my pain, the woods, _her_, my weakness, my strength... everything. I opened them and a shaking Jacob was kneeling in front of _them_.

Them. I looked around me and saw so many _thems._ Anyone could have hurt me... it just happened to be that werewolves really did not like vampires. It just happened to be that werewolf communities _particularly_ did not like vampires and it just happened to be that I was half vampire.

"Doesn't matter" I muttered. "It never mattered"  
>"What dear?" I looked up and one of the elder's faces contorted to Aro's smug youthful face. I knew that I was not well, the poison was working in my system... Aro wasn't here and besides, Aro could barely handle sharing power with three people...<p>

There were about ten of them who led the community but one of them had the final say, and that was the meeting that would be held after my... execution.

"Did you say you don't matter?" the fake Aro asked, except his voice was only in my head. I nodded and my vision cleared. They looked at me dubiously... the disgust and abhorrence mingled in with it.

"Jacob Black, when I met with you and told you of our conditions for you to stay in Malwood, did you agree to them?" Philip asked.

Jacob shuddered, sweat gleamed on his face and his shirt was half torn. He had probably managed to half phase against the strength of their magic. He couldn't speak, glaring hatred up at the council instead.

I knew Maria was here somewhere. Behind me maybe; I wondered what was in her head at this moment-satisfaction maybe? I could take her with me...

But she could fake being human better than I could ever hope to. What was I thinking; she was a human faking at being a vampire!

"I did tell you, Mr Black... that we would hear you out firmly if you adhered to our laws" Philip said in a disappointed voice, shaking his head. "We are a werewolf community. It is, besides the fact that I gave you this knowledge, common sense that we wouldn't want a vampire in our sanctuary. These woods..." he moved out of the large group and raised his hands at the trees "...their sole purpose is the interest of Malwood. And she..." he pointed at me "Is a natural threat to Malwood. Did you or did you not smuggle her onto our lands, Mr Black?"

"She... is... innocent!" Jacob roared before shuddering back into himself. Philip was shocked by the outburst and looked behind him to one of the women. She shrugged and he composed himself, watching Jacob's pained form in pure dislike.

"Your 'Pack' were shocked by her appearance on our property" Philip said slowly, pressing his lips. His smugness had disappeared in the wake of Jacob's outburst it seemed.

Was Jacob not supposed to be able to speak at all, although questions were being hurled at him?

"I asked them about it" Philip sighed. He now spoke to the people behind him, the people of Malwood "They do not trust her. They tolerated her because their leader had brought her with him..."

"Of course, this roused my suspicion further" Philip now cast his eyes on me "Especially as she did not eat. Especially as she is so beautiful and pale. These _wolves _come from a community such as our own; they have their own magic. Jacob Black knows that magic, and after convincing my son of his good intention-which I do believe was mostly good..." Philip pointed to the bound shapeshifters trembling on the ground "He wanted to protect his people, as we would protect each other at all costs"

"You...!" Jacob hissed but that was all he could manage.

"I get the polygamy and the girl..." Philip pointed behind me, to Maria I guessed. "but where is the attraction to that? It is imitates life, Mr black and does not give it but takes it. That... which, besides your pack's protests, you smuggles into our lands and put my son in a very precarious situation with the elders?"

"Death knows you, Rene" Anna stuttered. "You _are_ death"

"I preferred you with amnesia!" I spat. She looked away from me, hugged herself and shook her head. "You thought they would hurt you too! You said Philip was after Annabelle... well, look! You gave it all to him!"  
>"Firstly, what's hers is mine and secondly...why would I hurt my wife?" Philip shook his head. The crowd behind him resounded in murmurs.<p>

I knew this scene. I had been in it before and unlike before it was lacking that one strength. Here, on trial, I was alone.

Then, when I was a child... I had been on Jacob Black's back, my family flanking me and the wolves on our side. Then, when I was a child... Aro and all the many '_them's' _had fled that strength. That honeyed strength I would never remember. I looked at Charles and smiled at him; he grimaces in his pain, tears falling from his eyes; he at least, would not have to endure the torment of forever standing alone, of being your own hero and villain... he had Leah, he had the pack... he would have everyone and he deserved them.

"The impostor witches... the true demons, my dear Annabelle...!" Philip pushed Annabelle forward and pointed at me. "They were burned at the stake in many a werewolf town!"

"Demon!" I laughed. I looked at them all and smiled; half of me was gone, past logic and dancing in insanity.  
>"But Philip..." a woman in a dark cloak asked "She retains their abilities; strength, speed and resistance"<br>"Ah, it is nothing!" Philip laughed. "As I said, Mr Black's unfortunate fixation with the creature has seen him go to great lengths to have her with him"

"Vampires are supposed to be completely... incapacitated of strength and speed on our lands" Annabelle tried.

"This is your destiny, Annabelle..." Philip said slowly "Embrace it"  
>"Annabelle..." I pleaded and she looked away. "Annabelle...? Don't you want to know what happened to Matthew Delong?"<p>

Philip's eyes blazed inhumanly, his face glowed red and lips quivered. His fists clenched and his aura changed; meanness and hate. "Burn HER!" he roared.

"Wait...!" Annabelle cried.

"You have shamed your family, Annabelle" I said softly, but through the commotion I couldn't tell if she could hear. "Matthew Delong... is Philip's illegitimate son"

"I SAID FOR YOU TO BURN THE CREATURE!" Philip shuddered and I thought he would... phase. Illogical. I smiled at him and he scowled viciously at me but it was done; Annabelle stood still by her mother and father's side and the seed began to set root.

"Burn her, then" the cloaked woman raised her hand and the ground beneath my feet moved. I couldn't move for a moment and in that second, a tree erupted from behind me and ropes appeared from within its bark, strapping me to it.

"NO!" I cried, trying to free myself. "No... no... no!" I was ready for death, but I did not want to die. The tree was hard and smelt of ash.

"Kill it, Annabelle!" Philip commanded "Do not listen to it and kill it!"

"I won't!" Annabelle cried, trying to fight her father and the cloaked woman off. "I will not be a murderer!"

"You will... retrieve this family's name... after your brother brought that...!" Philip's eyes glowed dangerously "Let it pass through our woods and onto our lands! After all your atrocities and failings as an _Erikson_... you will do as I command and embrace your gift...!"

"I am no witch!" Annabelle cried.

"Let us be done with this noise!" another woman stepped up, raising her own hand. She only had to look at me for me to know I was about to die. I closed my eyes but the tears wouldn't stop, as though they thought they could douse the rising flames...

"Your associates have admitted to your demonism, Rene" I heard Philip say through the blistering pain and sweet meaty smell of my feet burning "And in exchange for remaining in Malwood, they have offered up your life"

"Death knows me" I stammered, waiting. "It won't be long now"

I wanted to be held, I wanted to be loved. I wanted to _not _have to be strong. I wanted to be. To live. To feel and not fear. To know recklessness, to admit defeat and feel victory flowing in my veins... the tenderness of a kiss, the subtle touch and shocking pain; I wanted it all and Death knew me through and through.

He would know how to care for me, he has always been the one that has wanted me regardless of my past or future; he had always accepted me.

"I am ready... for death..." it hurt, but what hurt the most was the sweet smoky smell I knew was my flesh. I think I was shrieking the words out in the flare of pain, or was I pushing the sad revelation out through my pointless gift... I could hear screams... my screams... "Although... I don't think I want to die"

Xx~xx~xX

The howl pierced through the white noise, strangled my flames; a werewolf, a bitter cry up into the night. I couldn't hear anything but the pain, oh the wretched burning of my feet; heat licking up my calves and into my veins, flowing fire in my blood...

It was a scene, as they all were; out of a nightmare, just another episode in my life.

Commotion, something was coming towards them. Annabelle was fighting her mother off, Angela was being held back by Maria; she wanted to run to me; the men were no longer concerned with her...

"It's Dominic" I read Philip's lips, he was scowling hard. "He has freed himself..."

And as the werewolves and elders concerned themselves with the impossibility of Dominic Erikson rushing through the woods towards us, as they concerned themselves with Annabelle's screams that she would not partake in my murder...

Jacob rose from the ground, blood trickling from his left nostril from his efforts and he looked at me. He looked at me, deliberately and with such passionate determination before turning his burning gaze to Annabelle and shouting, "Free her if you believe she is innocent!"

"I can't...!"

"DO IT!" he roared.

And she did. She pushed her mother away from her, finally, weaved her way through the commotion of people, raised her hands to me and I was free. Not of the flames, not of the ropes and not of the trees but of the.. the curse, that was all I could put it up to.

"Is she...?" Jacob moved towards me stiffly.

"I don't know..." Annabelle cried. She fell back into her mother's grasps when Anna had secured her once more, shushing her daughter.

There was no time, Jacob knew it and I knew it; he pushed himself forward, propelled his body towards me and caught me in the flames before pulling me off the tree and flipping me into the air.

_Grab on, Bronze!_ His voice roared in my mind and I automatically righted myself in the air-beside the pain-and landed awkwardly onto his back. He was a wolf, and the fear and horror in Philip Erikson's eyes as we sped from them made me believe that Jacob Black was more than just a wolf.

He was, much more and Philip knew it now; he had seen the true power of an Alpha.

_That's right, Bronze..._ he snickered and I realised he had heard the thought through my gift. _No one edicts me._

He wove through the trees, and for a moment it seemed easy; until the trees fought back. They whacked at us, clawing at Jacob and trying to fling me off his back; they almost managed but instead a twig pierced Jacob's side and snapped off, twitching where it was stuck.

He didn't stop, and sped over the ground and pushed against the wall of evil until we were free of _them_.

Xx~xx~xX

"Jacob?"

He rose shakily from the tar road, the wolf squeezing in around his form and merging with human flesh. Wisps of blood flayed throughout the transformation, coarse russet fur billowing around into the night and a thick shimmer enveloping them. When he was done phasing and stood naked in the middle of the strange road that was sharply cut by the murderous Malwood forest, there was a small pool of his blood by his feet and thick fur drowning in it.

She managed a step towards him but stopped; her neck tensing painfully as she turned her head away and quickly stopped breathing. She wouldn't manage to hold her breath for long, she thought... then she remembered how strong her lungs had gotten after the dreadful 'tank' incident. It would hurt exquisitely but not as badly as drowning had; her lungs at least wouldn't be filled with water...

Coughing out water had been... unpleasant.

"..'m 'right" he raised his hand for her not to come closer. She could see the 'twig' protruding from his side. It had seemed like a twig when he had been in wolf form, as large as he was, all the lashing and attacks-as cruel as they had been, had seemed bearable but now... that twig looked like a sturdy branch that would soon tip Jacob Black's bearing with its weight.

She walked carefully towards him, and when he sensed this, he pivoted where he stood so that by the time she had reached him, she was facing his back.

"If I see anything I haven't seen before..." she said slowly, aware she was testing so much on her ability to hold air and withstand pain "I'll throw a diamond at it"

"It better be a big diamond" Jacob coughed out a pained laugh "'Cause I got big things, you know..."  
>"You would be shocked by how much I actually do know" she said without thinking. "We need to get that out and this is not the time to be <em>shy<em>..."

Her air ran out. She shut her mouth abruptly, and realised she would have to endure a second of horrendously torturous temptation (if Anna's blood had smelt that way to her, she would have died before the blade had finished its slicing), to carry this out. She gulped, opened her mouth and swallowed air and Jacob's rich blood; decadent pain, purring monster and pained heart-she shut her mouth and when her vision cleared, she realised she had moved a great deal away from Jacob in those seconds.

"Shy..." he muttered. He turned his head and saw that she was suddenly a few feet away from him. She was not only pale, but she was sweating and shaking... those eyes that pulled strange things from him had turned dark and dangerous.

He touched the wound, felt the bark, felt the sting and his fingers went around the thick branch "it's just the tip, quite thin. Nothing vital" he grunted.

"You don't know that!" Renesme said quickly.

"That was a prayer..." he breathed. "You can't handle..." he stammered against the pain, as he began to tug, waiting to yank it out in one go "My hot bod..." he paled, blood mingling with sweat and his face twisting in pain "And sweet... blood..."

It was out and with it a thick squirt of blood.

She caught him before he hit the ground; she had taken her shirt off in the next second and secured it against the wound.

"Stupid mutt!" she cried but he had passed out. She looked around them and then back at the wall of trees; the branches seemed to reach out to them, trying to claw them back into the depths of Malwood Forest.

She stood up and carried him in her arms. "Keep your Malwood, Philip!" she roared "...but if you harm one hair on my son...!" she shuddered, tears falling and her cheeks burning. She looked at Jacob and thought of her painful burnt legs "One hair... on... our son... I'll... we'll gut you and pull out your innards and... feed them to you!"

She turned away then and walked along the road for fifteen minutes before she remembered all the other 'them's', and moved swiftly into the wilderness with a pained Jacob Black in her arms.

Xx~xx~xX

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**Thank you so much for the support!**

**Xx**

**Tj.**

**p.s I will soon change from TJCBUNNI22 to KitKat Roar.**


	11. The Inbetween World

**THE INBETWEEN WORLD**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

The difference between dreaming and reality would soon come to an end for him, he thought over this hard as he stared up at the sky. One day, he would dream as he waked. The ground was hard and uncomfortably cold; the kind of cold that shape shifter's disliked but could tolerate. It reminded him of how he had taken to the ice of Atka's home.

_Hated_ it, Jacob Black thought. He had been careful to breathe steadily, easing himself slowly from his dreams to the reality of the desert night. Dreams and reality, he mulled over, were like the supernatural and natural... and he found he was caught in between both. He was drifting between the two, his very soul... drifting between heaven and hell. Eternal limbo; he had peeked into what shouldn't be and known what was, discovered that anything was possible; understood that _everything _was possible.

The sky is dark and rich with stars, the way it should be without the tainting of city lights. He breathed in deeply and felt the twinge of pain. He had ignored it but now, acknowledging its existence fuelled its resolution to _exist _and in a second it thrummed like a second heart beat at his side.

He growled at that pain and abruptly sat up, insolently challenging its existence with his indifference to it. It would be gone soon enough, the wound would be swallowed by the magic of his tribe and it would be as though it had never existed.

She was sitting on a large rock with her arms wrapped around her torso, her body rocking gently. She hadn't noticed that he had woken up, lost in her mind, humming a melody to herself.

She seemed so miserable. She _always_ seemed that way. What would that beauty have looked like if she wasn't always sad, always so _sad_... even in her joy? He wondered for only a second before he pulled himself back from that questioning state; nothing good ever came from wondering and being curious, Jacob Black thought, reminded resentfully of Isabella Swan.

She turned her head finally, breaking her smooth lullaby and her arms moving higher up to hide her bra-covered breasts. He grinned reflexively and her pale face pinched.

"I'll take my shirt back Jacob Black, if you insist on being such a _goddamned_ pervert!" her eyes had no anger although the snarl had moved flawlessly from her purplish lips-he wondered if she was cold, then scolded himself for having little discipline when it came to probing and wondering about Renesme Cullen.

Fear and sadness were in her eyes... a little relief was in them too; he had woken up after all. She had been badly burnt, her pale skin smarted and blackened at her right side, and he realised that what he thought were jeans were her blackened scabbed legs... the jeans she wore had turned to shorts in the efforts of the witch fire.

She noticed his eyes, realised what it was he was seeing and shrunk into herself. She was a being who had been so used to being beauty, enchanting. She still was. It scared him that she still was, enchanting.

_She is in my mind... Reality and the Dream, _he thought.

"I'll behave" he lied, readjusting the bloodied shirt to an apron around his waist.

"You were kind enough to have no amnesia this time around?" her tone was stiff. She was scared and as a result, short tempered. She raised an eyebrow; her eyes shone a pearly orange colour as they sucked up the light of the stars.

"The amnesia was a once off thing, Bronze..." he sighed, rising up slowly and stretching his limbs out. They ached and throbbed and he had bruises along his side. He realised exactly how much of a bashing he had received from those nasty Malwood trees. He was sure he had been knocked out for at least a day, and with the extent of all his aches, he must have looked quite the sight as he healed... and she watched. He liked the worry in her tone, hidden behind the annoyance "You don't have to worry about me forgetting you"  
>"I am unforgettable" she didn't sound at all conceited as she said this, never removing her large dark eyes from him.<p>

"I did forget you once" he reminded her.  
>"...a once off thing" she mimicked his tone and he smiled at that. She smiled back and suddenly the night sky seemed too far up, the echoing darkness around them so empty and their presence to each other crowded. It felt like they were crowding each other in the middle of nowhere, fighting for the same air...<p>

He realised how much younger he was, in heart, as she watched him... analysed him in the shirt he wore knotted by his hip. He looked around them confused; Annabelle, trees that hate, Philip... Charles... Maria... their faces and the feelings swarmed in his head and flooded his heart. He felt nauseas, as though he would hurl and staggered two steps to the side before bracing himself and shaking his head.

"Damn" he groaned.

She watched him gather himself with no comment to a swaying wolf-a swaying _Alpha_; her eyes felt like lasers, he felt as though her gaze burned him and it was disrespectful for her to witness him in such a state... both the shirt-skirt and his wooziness.

"Thanks for never giving up on me" she whispered.

He reeled back, unsure on how to react: they had never practised courtesy between them and only danced to a bickering tune, communicated fluently in cynicism.

"'Welcome" he folded his arms over his chest and looked away quickly.

"Are you cold?" she asked him. He looked down at his arms and recalled the human posture.

"No" he said.

Silence, insects cricketing in the night, the wind moving with ease over the open ground.

"Wolves don't get cold" she said robotically "I asked a dumb question right...?"

"Yeah... you did" he agreed. She half smirked and he frowned-confused, and her smile dripped right off her face.

"We need to find a town, gather resources..." she pointed at him, but her gaze had moved awkwardly from him "And get you covered up"  
>"My half..." he looked down at his body and wondered why he felt so... so Adam-after-eating-the-apple, and tightened his arms over his chest "er... three quarter nakedness a problem?"<p>

"Yeah, sure... we can go with that" she said and he couldn't tell if she was serious or not and what was worse was not knowing who had more of a problem with the three quarter nakedness.

Xx~xx~xX

"The town is too close to Malwood" Renesme observed. She had forgotten that she was in nothing but a bra and held the man thoughtlessly by the collar. He flailed, his hands whipping up at her and legs kicking at the dirt.

The dust that rose from his efforts annoyed Jacob. He wasn't looking at her or listening to her; scowling at the man instead.

"You don't know who you are messing with..." he kept gurgling on his spit, whenever he wasn't choking; Renesme's grip was stone but as she moved about, the shirt would loosen around his neck and allow him to breathe.

"His pants won't fit you" she told Jacob, moving from the dark garage swiftly, too fast and into the light of the service station. He followed her sullenly (he was annoyed that he _had _to follow her, once again, unable to move as fast as she could in his form).

The service station was empty, the little shop too and the road void of cars. Jacob didn't remember a service station when they had driven towards Malwood but then, neither him nor Renesme where sure which direction they had escaped Malwood from.

"He puked on me" she was livid, her dark eyes narrowed and mouth twisted in disgust. She shook her blistered left leg, most of the chunky vomit flying off but slickness remained on her claves. She still held the fat man by the collar but now, his face had started to turn an uncomfortable shade of blue.

"Serves you right for zapping about the place" Jacob grumbled, in tune with his hungry stomach.

She gave him an insolent glare but said nothing, adjusting her grip once more and lifting the weightless fat man up before placing him against the gas pump roughly and slapping him once across the face.

"Ahhhh...!" he groaned, spluttering and the blue tinge left his face. His eyes had red stains in them now and his lips where cracked. Jacob frowned, annoyed by Renesme and annoyed by how ridiculously fragile humans where.

How were they going to ever hope to save them, when they were this weak...

How could they be capable of destroying vampires, when they were so weak...?

"Can you speak?" Renesme hunkered in front of the man and Jacob noted that a quarter of her skin had healed, still too slow for his liking but the expanse he saw on her back seemed unharmed from the fire. The jeans she wore rode low when she hunkered and he could see a wisp of pink peeking up from her lower back.

Philip, Leah, Charles... Maria ... Malwood's trees... Renesme in pink panties...

"'Course I can!" he spat out blood from Renesme's bitch slap. "Ahhh, you shouldn't have done that _Red!_"

"You weren't breathing" Renesme's voice was cool, unafraid. She was sure of what she was doing. He thought about Maria, how she had reacted when he told her to burn down the old man's house, the old man and the dog.

_Renesme wouldn't have hesitated, _Jacob thought. He felt nauseas again, not the pukey kind... a weird mental version of it and berated himself for comparing Maria and Renesme. What for? He wondered.

"We want to know what town we are in" Renesme asked loudly.

"Depends..." the man pushed himself upright and wiped his mouth free of blood, spit and vomit. He glared up at Jacob, who glared back down at him and then he grinned, his teeth stained with blood, the one front tooth chipped. It hadn't been chipped before, although the entire upper set had been yellow...

"Depends on what?" Jacob growled.

"What town you coming from" he croaked. He lifted his left hand up weakly and for a weird second, Jacob thought he wanted to smack Renesme back. Jacob had taken a step forward, the wind blew hard and his shirt-skirt whipped left. Renesme's back was to him and he was spared having an awkward Marilyn Monroe moment...

The man's raised hand went up to his head, he ran his finger's leisurely and insolently through his hair before wiping his eyes and dropping the hand altogether. "You ain't human, is you?"  
>"Dumb question" Renesme's voice had a smile in it and Jacob smiled behind her.<p>

"Well... until you say it, there ain't no point in beating me up little lady... as soft as those hands are" he grinned hungrily at Renesme and Jacob scowled, tapping Renesme's shoulder once. "Can't answer any of your questions till you answer that one..."

"Step away from the toad" he told her "I'm sure he will cooperate now"

She nodded once and rose up, remembering that she was in nothing but a bra and covering herself with folded arms.

"No and we are coming from Malwood" he told the Toad.

"You aren't behaving like werewolves" Toad sighed. "Actually... I haven't seen any werewolves come around here from Malwood in a long, long time"

"What town are we in!?" Jacob snapped.

"Prinsloo" he sighed. "She didn't have to smack me around!" he pointed at Renesme "Goddamned brute..."

"Brute, that's a new one... eh, Bronze?" he grinned at Renesme and she flicked her bushy mass of hair at him and a few leaves escaped her hair.

"His customer service was shitty" she said indifferently. "I wouldn't have choked him if he hadn't presumed to know me, and slap my rear"

"I didn't presume to know you _cavewhore..." _Toad laugh-croaked "I presumed to know your... rear, as you said. I could have _sworn _I was with nice _rear _last night..."

"I like him!" Jake grinned.

"Is this a supernatural town like Malwood?" Renesme rushed annoyed.

"All towns are supernatural..." Toad said seriously "All towns are natural..."

"What lives here?" Jacob demanded.

"Nothing like her" Toad eyed Renesme in wary wonder "A few kinda like you, sir... And some that just live a lot long, you know, like the folk in Malwood. If you _are_ from Malwood you will know the value of keeping your mouth shut..."  
>"Didn't quite get that lesson there" Jacob said. "We did catch a walloping from their trees though"<p>

"Well, people don't just leave Malwood these days, do they?"

"What do you mean 'these days'?" Renesme asked.

"Werewolf abductions? Folks going missing..." Toad pointed at a post covered in 'Missing People' pictures. "You don't know your Malwood history do you? Well, it's one of the safest places for any weirdo these days..." he pointed at Renesme as he said this, swallowing before spitting out blood at his side "Swankiest place, protected by werewolves, ruled by witches... just as hard to get in as to get out. You got to be _insane _to get out after getting in!"

"You have got to be kidding me!" Jacob laughed bitterly "Witches? Witches...!"

His incredulity ran dry when he looked at Renesme's cold eyes and remembered Annabelle Erikson's determined expression. He had cried out to Annabelle, hadn't he... knowing full well she could help them escape.

"Witches" Jacob said sombrely. "Are you human?" he asked Toad.

"What human has ever been permitted to know about all that?" Toad rose from the ground and groaned, rubbing his arm and glaring at Renesme. "Soon as they know, soon as the dead... ain't that so? Ancient rules for any supernatural people; what happens when cows and sheep know they are about to die? Chaos"

Both Renesme and Jacob thought about Angela Weber.

"I don't turn into a werewolf nor am I a witch" Toad sighed "Just a man. No fancy tricks. You don't have to have fancy tricks to be supernatural"

"Philip Erikson" Jacob told Renesme. "No fancy tricks but... he behaved just like an Alpha"

"Go to Bolhinger's, speak to Larry if its help you need..." Toad began to walk away from them, limping slightly "Try not to run your mouths about werewolves and Malwood. You won't need to ask. You never need to ask... these things have a habit of revealing themselves"

Toad returned to his shop then, lifting up the fallen shelves and picking up tins and magazines from his scuffle with Renesme. He went behind the counter and sat in his chair, leaning back and closing his eyes. He would give it an hour, before calling Larry Houvre about the vampire red head.

Xx~xx~xX

The music spun lazily through the air, twisting with the cigarette smoke and mingling with the laughter in the pub. He couldn't hear the lyrics but he had heard the song many times and for many nights and he could follow it in the darkness of the pub; Braille the words through the alcoholic air.

He liked the song now... the way one ends up liking anything they are forced to endure all the time. It was part of living here, part of working in Larry's pub and part of his life.

He was wiping the beer mug for an uncustomary amount of time; this, was not a sign of any care to the cleanness of the glass but an excuse to observe the 'outside', the world beyond his counter; the thick smoky violence being serenaded by _his _song... and possibly an excuse to ignore the large man sitting at the far end of the counter, eyeing him with annoyance.

Gerard didn't like strangers.

This man was not only a stranger, but he was _strange _too. He wasn't supposed to be in the scene. Gerard turned around slowly, ignoring the man's raised eyebrow; he wouldn't serve him any time soon, he decided. There would be no point in serving the man, Gerard thought, because the man would be evicted from here soon enough.

Gerard didn't like strangers and no one in Bolhinger's Pub did either. There were laws and rules that their home operated on and he had learnt to tell who was just toeing the line on breaking them. This one looked like a rule breaker.

"Ger..." Larry's large body squeezed through the small opening he allowed himself. He stood half way hidden behind the door to the backroom, glaring ahead of Gerard, far off... glaring at the stranger.

Gerard raised his eyes to Larry, already aware of what was on Larry's mind; the large man at the end of the bar counter, the dark man who was fuming over not being served; the outsider with nothing but a pair of loose pants on, who was much taller than Larry (who had always been the tallest man Gerard had ever seen).

"What's _that_" Larry scowled and before Gerard could answer him, Larry shook his large head and scowled further until his face turned red and hissed low "I haven't seen that one around. Stranger's during these unsettled times ain't good for business but then again..."

Larry's face smoothed over almost magically, the red being swallowed by his skin. "Then again, we are in strange times eh, Ger?"

"Recession and all?" Ger half smiled.

"...and all" Larry winked.

He closed the door and pushed past Gerard, reaching under the counter for his personal bottle of whiskey. He took the glass Gerard had been cleaning, placed it carelessly on the counter before reaching for another glass and began prepping two drinks.

"Hey stranger!" Larry bellowed over the music and the man raised his head immediately, his face stony "Care for a drink?"

"What you got?" the man moved closer to them, his voice low and deep.

Larry tilted the glass in the light, the whiskey fusing the light into a dirty gold. The man frowned at the drink, frowned at Gerard but eased his expression when he looked back at Larry. "I'm new here" he told Larry. "I'm looking for a place to stay"

He hadn't reached for the glass and after an awkward minute of having the glass raised in the air, Larry had to put it down. "What's your name, stranger?" Larry asked slowly, eyeing Gerard indicatively. Gerard backed away, and busied himself with dirtying dirty glasses further with his once-a-month washed cloth.

"John" the man answered.

"You don't look like a John!" Larry laughed.

"Don't I?" John smiled. "You know a place I can stay? It's only for a few days... but I got my girl with me and uh, she doesn't like Motels. Says they make her feel like a... like one of _those _girls"

John cocked his head to a murky corner littered with idling tired looking women, all smoking and some drinking heavily.  
>"Ah, one of those that thinks she's a lady 'cause she baths?" Larry laughed, slapping the table. He pushed the whiskey glass to John's closed hand and smiled, ignoring John's slight scowl at the joke "I got a place... but you know how the world operates, eh?"<p>

"Nothing for free" John answered. "I'll cover it, don't worry. I heard you were hush about things from the guy at the gas station..."  
>"Ah, that'd be Ger's brother... short fellow, round..." Larry drew a circle in the air and smirked knowingly. "I wonder what kinda story you told Round Ryan for him to send you this way, he is normally good at hush too. Well, it must've been a story <em>filled<em> with trouble..."

"I _am_ trouble" John took the glass and looked at the liquid suspiciously. He downed it, flinching and sticking out his tongue "Ugh, this isn't like beer!"

"What are you, fifteen?" Larry laughed.

"Yeah" John scowled at the glass.

"Humour... I like that!" Larry leaned forward, and smiled at John knowingly "You need a place to stay... I need someone to do a few odd jobs for me and you..." he waved his hand over John's form impressed "You sir, you kinda fit that description"

"You kind of fit the description of a pair of jeans that could fit me" John chuckled but Larry wasn't sure if the man was joking or not. "A pair of shoes too. You know how hard it is to find shoes that are my size?"

"I can... appreciate the difficulty being almost your size myself!" Larry frowned a little, confused and a little wary of John's strangeness.

"I got money for the place..." John reached into his pocket and retrieved a fist filled with bills. "If you got a place for me to stay, that is"

"You know I do" John grinned, taking the money without bothering to count it. "You will help me with a few... odd jobs, right?"

"Odd..." John grinned. "I specialise in _odd_"

Xx~xx~xX

X

X

**JACOB BLACK**

"I don't like how you spoke of me"

"Sorry" I lied. "The place is not that bad eh?"

She glared at me before lazily looking around. "I prefer the desert to this" she sulked.

"Then go and sleep in the desert if this is not up to your _standards_" I sat on the bed and it groaned-the base was made of thin wood.

"How do you think his bartender will feel when he finds out I clobbered his brother?"

"'_Clobbered'_" I chuckled at the word. "Wasn't the idea to get intelligence? And Toad didn't mind, he got to have your hands all over him"

"Argh!" she huffed "You didn't need to beat up the guy outside Bolhinger's"

"I needed pants" I snapped, refraining from adding that _her _doing the beating up in our team up was emasculating.

"Why can't you follow instruction, God... you are as bad as Angela had been!"  
>"I am an Alpha, we do not <em>follow<em>" I smiled and ignored her muttering of 'Foolish Alpha'.

"You know, there are perks at being a control freak" she pouted. "We can't just wonder into a town and use your 'nudges' and 'I got a feelings'"

"I could sense it Bronze" I sighed, falling back onto the bed and closing my mind. "It's an energy..."  
>"A shifter energy?" the amount of ridicule in her voice could melt metal.<p>

"An energy... and Larry sensed it too" I sighed. "That pub is a watering hole for supernatural beings"  
>"Aren't we to stay away from supernatural beings" she was ice "We should find my father..."<p>

"Like I said, Bronze..."  
>"It's Rene" she was at her temper's end, her voice rising a little.<p>

"You are more than welcome to leave... if this place isn't good enough for you"

She huffed and made a noise, some ruffling of fabric and then stomped two steps towards the bolted up window. "I have no qualms about being around you..." she said evenly after a moment "I don't see the purpose of this exercise. That is all"

"Maybe you missed the purpose of this _exercise_ while you were locked up in the lab back at the Hive..." I began and she hissed low and cat-like.

"Don't talk about things you don't know about!" she snarled and I had to open my eyes then, I had to sit up... I wasn't sure if I would be hauled off the bed by my ankle and slammed into the wall. She was crouched, fingers splayed and rigid like claws at her sides and her dark eyes glaring an animal anger at me.

"Tell me about it then?" I said softly and the cat in her relaxed, her back straightening and eyes narrowing at me. "'Cause you know, there are things you never spoke off and you are so fucked up already, can't keep piling it on..."

She folded her arms over her chest, gracefully and tilted her head-the wild cat tamed-and said in kind patronization "I hadn't realised you and I were best friends now? I thought that slot was reserved for Maria?"

"We aren't enemies" I sighed, ignoring the quip about Maria "I am not _your_ enemy... at least. I never was your enemy... even before I lost my memory"

I remembered the desert, the awkwardness I had felt when she had thanked me for never giving up on her. I could see it shining in her eyes now, and I felt a little bit better about my vulnerability from before. I had gone through it and now she had too.

"Hmph"

"I am sorry you got burnt" I murmured not adding that it always seemed that she got burnt, she got the worst end of all the bad things to come our way; her, Charles and Edward. It must have been something in their blood... no, their venom.

"It will heal soon enough" she stated. She turned her head to the side so her hair hid the half of her face that was slightly blistered and pulled down the sleeves of her shirt to hide the red skin before folding her arms over her chest.

"Are you cold?" I smiled pointing at her folded arms, cuddling herself.

"No... half vampires need a lot more than this to get cold..." she waved at the cold room.

"Dumb question, huh?"

"..." she looked at me then her lips parted to say something, then she shut them altogether, pursing their plumpness away, the way she always did when she knew I was funny and didn't want to give me the satisfaction of a smile.

"Are you...er, thirsty?" I asked slowly. "You must be thirsty?"

"I'm used to it now" she shrugged "I was thirsty a lot in Malwood"

"Well, maybe you aren't as used to it as you think. It made you snack on Anna after all"  
>"No... That was more than thirst" she shook her head, hating the memory.<p>

"What was it?"

"Why are you trying to understand me?"  
>"Trying to avoid you snacking on anyone here..." it was partly true. Her question shocked me into retreat; I had gone back there, to the wondering and curiousness. "I'll... sleep on the couch"<p>

It was a lumpy thing that had an odd wire curling out of the cushion. It was still a lot better than the hard ground in the desert. I couldn't phase just yet, and I thought it a bad idea to do so before I had gathered some information about the place.

"I don't need to sleep"  
>"You <em>always<em> neglect to sleep"

"What is it to you?" she snapped.

"Ever thought that maybe that's why you are _always_ cranky?" I laughed, taking her at her word regardless and falling back onto the bed. I shut my eyes and tried to think to Charles but the telepathy only worked when he was pushing into my mind, if I was not in wolf form.

In a second, I had fallen asleep with the sensation of Renesme's eyes on me. This time, her gaze didn't burn and felt familiar, comforting to know I wasn't alone.

I had strange dreams of trees and brooks, the cold Forks woods and my home. Everything was so vivid, it felt like I could touch it, I could almost smell it. Pine, leaves and earth.

_I was running... rushing towards something. I skipped over a log-no, an uprooted tree and landed right in the middle of the Cullen house. I was human and dressed as I stood up on my two feet. I was angry too, so angry-she was dead. Bella was dead, his thing had killed her. I walked into the living room and saw a woman, her hair was shimmering gold and she was bouncing the thing in her arms. She was singing to it, soothing it; a job well done for killing Bella._

_I was going to kill it, rid the world of the abomination. I was going to tear it from Blondie's arms and throw it in the deepest lake, bury it in the coldest hole. She turned around slowly, her eyes narrowed to me and I saw it._

_I saw... nothing._

"_Jacob..." she was trying to wake me; I could feel her pushing and pressing my shoulder. "Jake, it's a nightmare..."_

_I saw a blobbed face and Blondie was just staring at me._

"_Do something, then?" Blondie challenged._

_The blob faced baby twisted and bronze brown hair sprouted from its head and eyes popped out, a nose pushed out and a mouth ripped into existence from the skin and there was Renesme's adult face staring at me and it said "Wake, up dummy... you are dreaming"_

"Argh!" I rose up from the bed, flailing my hands. She removed her hand from my shoulder and turned to the window, folding her arms and tucking her hands under her armpits.

"Don't ever do that again!" I hissed, touching my shoulder were her cool hand had been.

"I thought you got over the 'You made Bella turn into a vampire' thing" she said cryptically. She breathed in and sighed, "I thought you were over her"  
>"Over... I... it was a nightmare not a sex dream about that frozen... mother of yours" I muttered, rubbing my shoulder to dispel the ghostly sensation she had left there. "You have to believe that much, god... if you had said Leah, yeah sure..."<p>

She tilted her head a little and let out a huff "I believe you" then added "Maybe you will be dreaming about Maria tomorrow"

She was more apt to sulk about it than get into it with me; snide remarks here and there, but soon she would be forced to let it go... so long as I didn't take the bite. I reminded myself that I had done nothing wrong, Maria...

I shouldn't feel shamed or guilty. I remembered the moments I had spent at the farm with her and her Nahuel, I had felt nothing but annoyance and curiosity.

Curiosity... argh, bad.

"Anything is better than nightmares" I whispered after a moment. She huffed when her bait was scorned and ignored. "What do _you _dream off?"

"I don't dream" she lied.

"Sometimes, reality is the same thing..." I muttered, closing my eyes. I fell asleep once more, a dark shadowy sleep but no nightmare or dream formed in that place.


	12. The Ghost in the Darkness

**THE GHOST IN THE DARKNESS**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**CHARLES EDWARD BLACK**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

The night finally settled.

The werewolves came from between the trees, pulling away from the shadows. God, there were so many of them and so few of us.

"Ch...Ch..." Angela stammered. She was looking right at me, her glasses hung on her left ear, the one lens smashed in and her eye a disturbing red, streaked with darker crimson veins. I took in a breath and thought about phasing, thought about anger, thought about _venom_...

I wasn't seeing through just the night any longer, looking past the darkness like it was a shadowy day; I could see that her eye had a glass fragment in it. Past that, she seemed unharmed save for a few bruises and scratches. I exhaled and my thumping heart slowed then paced, my breathing increased and I was back to a more shape-shifter vision.

Angela never did manage to say my name, simply looking at me with helplessness. I was the only one from the pack in human form, the wolves behind me tensed and bristling while the werewolves encircled us. We were surrounded, and we could fight our way through... but there would be death if we chose that. The darkness of death, in the light of loneliness; could you live and survive alone?

Could I live without her, could she survive without me?

"Leah" I breathed, reaching a hand out and touching her snout. I looked into her eyes, to implore her to see we were outnumbered but it was Embry that was in charge, I realised.

And his eyes were locked with Philip Erikson, a large and white Atka by his side. Philip looked away and busied himself with his phone. I thought he seemed afraid, just the tiniest bit.

Of Embry or whoever was on the phone?

"I have always done what is necessary with my family" Philip finished sombrely. Annabelle was long gone from the woods with Maria, but I had tasted her mind briefly when I inspected the damage on Angela. I couldn't taste it anymore... I couldn't risk trying.

"What to do with you..."Philip scowled at me and I scowled back. "Why are you not a wolf, sir?"

"Because I don't feel like it!" I snarled at Philip Erikson and he smiled at me, astounded by something.

"An honest answer..." he smiled. "I was so captivated by Rene when it was you I should have been observing..."

"He looks as she did" Mr Fredrick murmured. His voice caught my attention but it was his eyes that held it to him; they shone with too much energy for a man as old as he was. "What are they, Philip?"

"He may resemble her but he is one of them. It would make sense that they would need someone to speak for them" Philip pointed behind me at the bristling wolves. "I will hold the two women and the young man at my manor. Escort the rest to the dregs at the south... I wouldn't want to have my poor Anna and daughter worked up about them"

"The Council, Mr Erikson..." Mr Fredrick warned.

"I do wish you would call me Lord Erikson, on occasion, Mr Fredrick" Philip smiled through his displeasure.

"Lord is reserved for the Knights of Malwood, Mr Erikson" Mr Fredrick gave Philip a sickeningly sweet smile "But as I asked, the Higher Council is interested in this disturbance..."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there" Philip growled.

"And your son?" Mr Fredrick asked. "What course of action will be taken for Lord Erikson?"  
>"Dominic would never betray Malwood" the woman in a hood laughed. "At least, without adequate reason. We'll see how his <em>father<em> will present his case to the High Council, however"

"What's the point of being _noble _when one has to do all the dirty work" Philip grumbled. "Send the wolves far, and out of sight"

Leah, I thought. I looked behind me and her amber eyes met my own, she nodded once. She would be fine. Embry took a step forward next to her and I realised, oddly in the presence of werewolves and the dangerous Philip Erikson, that Embry Call had taken up the mantle of Alpha and Leah and Seth had _allowed_ him.

I remembered the red argument Embry had had with Jacob in the cottage back at the Erikson Estate, an argument about my mother. I wasn't sure how I felt looking into his dark eyes and thicker wolf frame, I wasn't sure which course of action he would take and what it would spell for my Leah and me.

"Mr...?" Philip asked loudly and I snapped my head back to him. I swallowed, my rudeness going down with the motion as I realised Leah was being sent somewhere unknown.

How much danger where we in?

"Black" my cockiness fizzled at the end of my surname.

"Black..." Philip smiled "As in... Jacob Black?"  
>"Well obviously not the same person, <em>Philip<em>" this was Angela, her voice shocking everyone in the tight clearing. She was shivering, still afraid but determination was in her eyes. She seemed to have grown a few more grey hairs in the wake of the violence. She nodded at me too, almost the same as the wolf Leah except her cheeks glistened. She may have cried briefly; for her life, for her past peace or was it the uncertainty of Renesme and Jacob, I wondered.

"Sins of the father" Mr Fredrick said stoically but his eyes shone with that young energy, a childish cruelty; the most lethal of all.

"If it were so then all men would be condemned from the moment Adam digested that apple" Philip smiled.

"Are we not condemned Mr Erikson?" Mr Fredrick smiled back.

"Gentlemen, there is much to be discussed" the woman that had been the match to my mother's flames removed the hood of her cloak and eyed me thoughtfully "Philosophy through the ages, religion against such evils as those that plague us now..."

Mr Fredrick and Mr Erikson nodded in agreement.

"...but the night is upon us and we should not task our brave knights so" she pointed at the blinking yellow eyes in the shadows of the trees as well as those that had revealed themselves. "Does the young Mr Black care to voice out anything before we end this night?"  
>"Will you harm them?" I whispered, looking straight at her. She seemed safer but when she smiled, something in her reminded me of Isabella.<p>

"No" the crinkled woman said "There is only one thing Malwood cares to harm..." as she said this I knew she was talking about the trees that had a conscious of their own, an agenda with the world.

"Vampires" Philip answered.

"And on occasion, outsider Werewolves" Mr Fredrick breathed.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

_He stared at the body. The rock was in his hand, his arm steadied and his breathing harried._

_He could feel the rage subside, the tidal wave of hate and violence abate and with it, recognition; he was staring at a dead body, and finally... he could see that the man lying on the hard ground with his eyes staring unseeingly to the sky, was John._

"_John?" Peter asked. He looked at the rock in his hand and saw the blood on it. His arm began to shake, his body began to vibrate and his heart hurt badly; he had killed the man lying on the ground; he had murdered his brother, his little lost brother._

"_JOHN!"_

Xx~xx~xX

"They are just dreams" the Priest insisted, sitting opposite Peter. "A reflection of your troubled relationship with John"

Peter said nothing, opting to flick his gaze to Kilpa before returning it to his thin hands. Peter thought he could still see the blood on his hands, John's Blood, and flung his arms in front of him and moaned feebly. The old man at his side touched his arm before forcing both his arms back down, murmuring to him in a _Forest _language so ancient he had no hopes of ever understanding.

If he was losing his mind, Peter thought, he still had enough sense to know that the vile rat Kilpa was not his brother. What was the Priest playing at? Could the man truly not remember what John had looked like, the young man he had prayed for too rid of all his sins...?

_Devil_, Peter could hear John say. Devils don't rid you of sins, they pile them on; a thousand for every one you wish to forget.

"No" Peter managed. "You are a devil"

"You and John came to my house for dinner, do you remember?" the Priest asked and Peter nodded his head, giving Kilpa a despising look.

"You took something from me..." the Priest paused and in a louder voice, he told the chief of the village this "Peter stole something from me of great value and I fear that, through his derangement he may also be afraid of being dealt with about the theft"

"I took the map..." Peter whispered, shaking his head insistently "I took the notebook!" he groaned "I should have left them well alone!" he cried. "You are the devil and we should have let that demon beast sleep!"

Xx~xx~xX

"_You should have left his book and the map" John was telling him, mere minutes before Peter would smash the rock at the side of John's head. _

_Peter didn't want to hear it, he was sick of it to his stomach; how dare John act holier when he had sinned so thoroughly in Brazil. How dare he... how dare he...!_

"_We should... return the things to him, even this _rock-thing_" John was telling Peter, pointing back at the crystal boulder "I will return these things to him, if you are too shamed..." John was threatening Peter "You don't know what you have awoken in that Devil. His eyes are on us... he will want our blood"_

"_I need the money" Peter told John. Something in him was awoken, primal and dangerous; he had never felt such blood lust, such hate and anger. It was overwhelming him. He could see the crystal rock behind John and he thought he saw a red gem inside it._

"_I need to live" John spat back "You may never forgive me but I won't forgive myself if I let you go through with this. I have always been the coward, Peter... but I'll be brave now. We will stay clear of that blood drinker!"_

"_You need to live...!" Peter took a step forward, the crystal rock beckoned him closer. There wasn't just one red gem but too, and they blinked and sparkled behind the thick murky crystal. Peter wanted them, he needed them..."Then leave!"_

Xx~xx~xX

"I killed John" Peter told the room filled with people. "He was lying there, staring at the sky. And the blood ran from his head and pooled at the base of the rock. I had already begun to leave the clearing... God, I was going to leave him there. My little brother..." he looked up at Carlisle Cullen, his eyes wide.

Something in him reminded the good doctor of Jacob Black; the young wolf had come to him and confessed witnessing a murder, his imprint the murderer, and covering it up. He had come to him for...

"God forgives" the Priest, the good Doctor Cullen murmured. "Here is your brother..." he pointed at Kilpa "It may help to take us to where you think he died?"

"The rock sucked up the blood" Peter spat, his eyes black and flat. "It unfolded and there stood a beast. A hungry beast. It smelt foul, it looked even fouler... and I felt it eating my brother, only... it wasn't eating him... not really... just..."

Peter stopped abruptly, the tears gone and emotion dead in his eyes. This scared Carlisle more than the prospect of there not being any artefact; he thought the death in Peter's eyes was grimmer than his own.

How a mere mortal could hold something darker than he...?

"Your book, the map I stole..." Peter threw a limp sack at Carlisle's feet. "Priest, or whatever you are..." Peter whispered in miserable English "That beast was hungry, God knows how long it had been asleep in that dead clearing. It is coming and you should have never have wanted it awakened"

"Surely it would have come for you, as you had looked into its eyes?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes, I looked into its eyes and they were red and evil" Peter shuddered. "And it told me I would die and there will _always _be death"

Xx~xx~xX

The tale finished with 'Death' and the vampires in the jungle encircling the village tensed. Carlisle Cullen was surrounded, and although they had walked into this optimistic on his retrieval, the man's tale had scared them all in varying ways.

Xx~xx~xX

X

x

"Ms Weber, I am truly sorry..."

She didn't give him a chance to finish, moving fast off of the bed and standing in front of Philip Erikson. She hit him as hard as she could, as though he were a shape-shifter or a vampire; as though she were more than just a human...

The only person left smarting, shamed and angry at the end of her slap was her. His face had shuddered minutely when her hand had connected with the side of his head, she had felt the roughness of his full beard...

And she had retracted her hand immediately after the loud slap and cradled it to her chest.

"Well, that will be two apologies then?" Philip Erikson smiled at her, closing her bedroom door-her prison door-behind him and moving to the window in such a debonair air for one who had just been rudely slapped.

Her hand was red and she had angry tears in her eyes, mixed with a bit of shock at the pain the action had given her.

"Asshole" she managed.

"Only on special occasions... but I assure you, this is not such an occasion" Philip opened her curtains and stood at the left side of the large window, folding his arms over his broad chest. "You seem well lived, Ms Weber"

"How did you come by my last name?" Angela breathed. Her hand had stopped hurting as suddenly as it had begun after slapping Philip, the red splotched in the inside of her palm desisting too. She didn't think this was normal at all, but didn't make any comment on it; remembering that old hag, the witch that had set Renesme ablaze.

"You have two brothers" Philip told her, pushing a window open. The light hurt her eyes a lot, especially the hurt eye. It throbbed and she knew it was worse than it felt but she wouldn't dare look at a mirror. There were more important things to worry about.

And now, that made two other things added to her list. God, she was only _human _but why did she find herself responsible for the fate of the immortal?

"I sent someone to check on them..." Philip smiled pleasantly but his eyes, they were all wrong. He was all wrong...

She could feel dread welling up inside of her and although the boy's were all men, with their own lives... she could remember the baths and the birthdays so suddenly as he mentioned them. She could remember the scraped knees and Band-Aids...

"They could not find them" Philip said in disappointment. She fell back on to the bed and let out a loud sigh of relief. He laughed at that.

"You have me, you have Charles... you have the wolves" She said "What else could you want?"

"_More!" _Philip roared and Angela rose, in fright and moved to the opposite side of the room. The garden was beautiful outside the window, but his form was livid from where he stood and face ugly with anger and indignation. "Why should _we_ have to hide from _them!_"

"Who is we?" her voice was small, tiny.

"So many of us, Ms Weber" he calmed as he had angered, just like how her hand had healed as it had pained. Philip Erikson was no man...

_You father is a demon,_ Angela could hear herself telling Annabelle. She now understood the young girl's fear of the man, her determination to be rid of him; to run to the Company.

He was daunting, the air of him filled with calculation and purpose, ambition and fire. She didn't feel safe at all; she had felt fear before but it had come from the obviously demon not this one, this hidden one...

"What do you know of the vampire Joham?" he asked. Angela realised then that she was in an interrogation.

"Nothing" her voice was still too small. She tried to raise it and repeated the word slowly "Nothing" but it cracked and wisped out. She coughed a little and made a show of going to the little table near the window that had a clear glass jug of water and two water glasses, still opposite him, and poured herself a glass of water.

He smiled, and she shuddered, drinking the water slowly. He patiently watched, she would have to be done with it some time.

"What do you know of him?" he asked again, sitting on the ledge of the window. _Show no fear when dealing with the supernatural, _ Angela could hear Leah telling her once about Renesme. And it had worked to some degree, hadn't it?

She sat across him on the ledge, attempted to adopt his pose(he had his left leg hanging over his right, with his hands knotted on the knee. His ankle twitched to a beat that only he could hear, still he looked _refined_).

She failed and her bum found no purchase on the thin ledge, and she almost fell off before grabbing the curtain and hoisting herself back up. He was smiling when she looked at him, dangerous amusement in his eyes.

"You are a charming woman, Ms Weber" he smiled.

"Thanks" she managed, wiping the ledge as though it were faulty.

"Mind answering my questions?" he asked sweetly "I am really a nice man. A gentleman. I am rather fierce about protecting my children and my Anna. You may think me the villain now..."

"Now, and forever more..." she returned his smile.

"But I am not" he said sternly. "You protected your family well"

Edward, Alice and Carlisle did, Angela was sure of that.

"I on the other hand, have not" Philip smiled weakly, looking out the window "Annabelle misses her friend already. I do feel for her"  
>"Maybe you shouldn't have tried to kill her friend"<p>

"What was she?" Philip ignored the statement swiftly, curiosity glinting in his eyes. Any interest Philip Erikson held, was of the dangerous kind, Angela thought. "She was not a vampire..."  
>Angela remained silent.<p>

"Joham was at the edge of Malwood, my two lackeys held a parley with him on their return from searching for your family and history" Philip said cordially. "He killed one of them" Philip added but he didn't seem too concerned about the death.

"He wanted Rene" Philip continued "Dead or alive, he said but the boy... he wanted the boy alive. Now imagine my confusion when he said 'Boy'? No boys entered Malwood!"

When he realised Angela would not say anything he continued with mild irritation this time "I was going to give him Rene but Dominic and Annabelle, my lovely offspring, had other plans on the matter. I didn't know what boy he meant... until Charles Black revealed himself to be junior to Jacob Black, who I suspect is associated intimately to Rene..."

"Ms Weber" Philip smiled "We have a vengeful vampire trying to breach our woods at all cost... and he may not succeed, but the multitude of werewolves he has with him may be a bit of a problem"

"So why haven't you just given him Charles already?" she whispered.

"He sent another request" Philip smiled cunningly "He wants his granddaughter too. I would say, the man asks for too much, wouldn't you? And the one in need is always indebted to the one who has"

"So why haven't you just given him all he wants already!?" Angela hissed.

"I am not the villain here" Philip Erikson insisted "There are others in Malwood whose intentions are far sinister towards you and your strange friends than I, Ms Weber"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"We have the worst luck when it comes to towns" I sighed.

It was seedy; slums and garbage everywhere. Shack-like homes, potholes and litter. It may have been the area the apartment was in, I didn't take Larry for one to be worried about location even for the sum of money I had given him.

"Bartender?" I could hear the distaste in her tone but I ignored in. If I ignored the bad behaviour and brattiness, she was less likely to increase it; if I got annoyed by her annoyance, she would win.

"You'll work with Gerard..." I turned around, ready to explain things to her and froze.

She was clad in black; black worn boots, black torn tight jeans and an even tighter vest and her hair mussed around her face. She had cut it into a weird longish bob and the curls bounced when she tilted her head a little, reading information on a box she held in front of her.

"What's up with the hair?" I asked trying to dispel the spell. She flicked her gaze up at me.

"Can't go around looking like some well known red head half vampire girl, now can I?" she said, daring me with her eyes to add more or tease her on the hair. "Dyeing it black" she waved the box in her hand.

"To match the eyes?" I teased and she growled at me, unimpressed.

It was bad enough she couldn't take charge of things this time around (she acknowledged that after Malwood, it was best for her to be as un-vampire as possible), but now she actually had to get a job (we had run out of money after I accidentally gave Larry the last that she had scrounged), and try and be human (she wasn't talking about the thirst thing, the not healing fast thing or the not hunting thing).

I didn't like the town much, it was oddly dirty and had too many people milling about. Renesme and I, we stuck out. Painfully. Dyeing her hair black wouldn't make her any less beautiful to manage to hide in this filthy backdrop of rat-metropolitan.

Xx~xx~xX

"...not pleased at all" Larry repeated. He had a toothpick in his mouth that he chewed and rolled between his teeth as he eyed Renesme. "Apparently, Missy..." he smirked as he said this "you slapped him _good_?"

"I just wiped some grease of his cheek, that's all" Renesme took a step forward and folded her arms over her chest, cocking her hips to one side and raising an eyebrow. "I didn't have a napkin with me, unfortunately"  
>"She must have some rough hands on her!" Larry laughed, slapping my arm "The way Round Ryan had lost some of his 'round', he is going to need panel beating! You'll do wonderfully with Ger! Kid ain't got much balls, but you sure as heck got balls..."<p>

He drifted off, staring at Renesme's chest. I was jealous and annoyed simultaneously; where as I had to make every effort not to notice the chest, the tight jeans cupping her 'rear' and gulp down my comment that the dark look was strangely _doing_ it for me...but she was forever Bronze...

Larry didn't have to worry about all that.

She looked deathly white with the black bob. She had straightened out the curls and loaded her eyes with mascara ("that's a lot of massacre done to your eyes", that teasing hadn't been well received), and a kilogram of some black crayon to her eyelids.

She wore the jacket to hide her healing burns. She said they didn't hurt so much from the inside, but the scars were bothering her. At least her face, which I knew had been a priority for her, had eased up some on the skin.

"Right" she scowled, reaching her limit with Larry's leering "I'll be off then"

We both watched her walk away before I remembered she was supposed to my girlfriend (so I could watch her and Larry couldn't... all in the name of aliases, and such...)

"Ease up" I told Larry.

"Gorgeous" Larry smiled, walking over to the driver's side of his truck, still smiling. We were in front of the pub and the drive into town had shown that we had chosen the _shittiest _place ever to escape to, after Malwood. "Nice, through and through"  
>"And..." I wanted to say <em>mine<em>, as I opened the passenger door and slid into the seat. I left the answer hanging in the air, staring at the front of the bar and imagining Gerard and Renesme alone in there, the dark smuttiness of the place would irk her already aggravated mood further, and Gerard's heart beat would frustrate the vampire she was trying to hide behind those poor massacred eyes.

Larry pulled out of the parking lot clumsily and drove fast over the bumpy road south of the pub. There was an expanse of nothingness between Larry's pub, Bolhingers, and the actual town. He had told me he owned a motel too, on the other side of town; that was the side that he said received the most 'regular' folk. Whenever Larry said 'regular' to describe folk, I knew he meant human.

"This place operates on a tattered principle of don't ask don't tell" Larry said. "Regular people know, but they don't know... you know? Doesn't really matter, most of the other folks are mongrels anyway"  
>"Mongrels?"<br>"Come on!" he slapped my arm again, hard enough this time "Too much mingling in with humans, you know... dilutes the potency of the genes. That's why places like Malwood exist. They keep things...pure and concentrated. Picky about who moves in and who moves out"

He wrung his fingers on the steering wheel and his face went grim "Leaves places like this for all the rejects" he turned left and the patches of tar disappeared into muddy earth. The truck shook and jumped over the wet dirt road, but Larry's mood had turned sour and he said nothing else till we arrived at his sister's miserable looking home.

Xx~xx~xX

"This is John" he told her the moment she emerged from the shabby cabin. She carried a baby on her hip, her hair a dirty blonde and the light blue dress she wore stained in various yellowish brown colours. She was tiny, ridiculously so and the baby looked like a short midget in her arms.

"John, huh" she didn't bother to look at me. "You staying or you leaving me some money?"  
>"Straight to the point, eh..."Larry smiled fondly at her "Kinda like <em>your<em> girl?"

"No" I said without thinking but managed to hold back the 'don't insult her'.

"We are coming in" Larry sighed and she pushed the door to the side with her shoulder. The baby gave me a wet eyed glance before fisting Larry's sister's dirty hair and pushing the fisted hair into its mouth. I looked straight ahead, afraid of what I would see in the home if I started being my usual curious self.

"I'd have preferred you left me some money, than your _lovely _company, Larry" she grumbled. She plonked the child on the floor and made a show of tidying up the dinky lounge; fluffing tattered cushions and picking up dirty plates from odd places.

The dirt and dust rose up with her efforts and I realised I had been holding in my breath a bit. I could smell it, it hit me hard and I appreciated obsessively tidy people immediately; vampires especially, as my nose and senses went haywire for a moment.

My eyes watered; there was no air in the house. I couldn't locate the windows at all, and instead patches in the roofing streamed in light.

"Relax" Larry threw his large body on a rickety seater. It didn't give in like I thought it would. "Take a seat, place takes some getting used to"

I took my seat with caution, lowering myself slowly. Right then, Larry's sister opened the curtains and swung the windows open from an awkward side of the room. The air blew in, a gust of outside smells (that were mildly more pleasant than the ones inside of the house).

"Her name is Judie" Larry pointed at her, before picking up the baby that had crawled to him. "This here is Lance, ain't you buddy?" he asked the baby.

It was a large baby, although Judie was indeed small and it looked sickly; watery eyes and a snot filled nose.

"My brother-in-law _supposedly_ went missing half a year ago" Larry said, bouncing the child up and down on his knee. "Left Judie here to fend for herself"  
>"Not much fending to be done when your brother is Big Larry" Judie sat down opposite me and gave me more consideration this time, before shyly brushing her dirty hair away from her face and giving me a coy smile. "Although Mitch wasn't much a man, anyways... only Lance misses him really"<p>

She fluttered her eyelashes and winked.

It made me nauseas and sad for her simultaneously. This was a miserable place, and it seemed... Judie was better off in the squalid cabin her brother had obviously provided for her and her little family.

"Judie is like Round Ryan" Larry leaned back, whispering a little "You know, not regular but not much... oddness going on"  
>"And you?" I asked Larry.<p>

"Mongrel" he smiled "We are all just mongrels if we ain't regular or irregular"

"That's not saying much" I said slowly. "Some detail, what's the difference between this town and Malwood"

Beside the fact that Malwood's waste seemed to be dumped here...

"A werewolf from here..." he said in a clear tone "Up against a werewolf from Malwood? Never been heard off. They keep us out 'cause we have dirtied blood..." he stilled the baby and attempted to wipe little Lance's nose with the t-shirt the child wore.

"Werewolves don't live long" I looked at Larry carefully. Nothing about him looked like he was a werewolf.

"They ain't immortal, that's certain" Larry smiled "But I think two hundred years is about long enough, don't you? In Malwood, they live longer... this is all estimating by _regular_ folk years. Of course, if you gonna take an odd-folk's perspective when fifty years looks like twenty... then two hundred is about enough time to live, yeah?"

"Are you a werewolf?" I asked slowly. "You don't look like you are one"

"You came out of Malwood..." Lance grinned "And you don't look like you are a werewolf either! But I can tell that you aren't regular, and from Round Ryan's description... your girl ain't regular either, as pretty a girl as she is!"

"Larry..." Judie droned out the name, a warning in her tone. I looked at her and she averted her gaze and let her hair fall over her face.

"What do you understand about 'territories'" Larry leaned back, his expression serious. Lance whined on his uncle's lap, the snot came trickling thickly from his nose once more.

"I wouldn't want this piece of land in my territory" I muttered. He wasn't offended, smiling hugely.

"I want you on my side" Larry smiled. "Healthy as you are"  
>"Healthy as I am for <em>what<em>?!" I frowned.

"Disputes and such" Larry explained. "You shift, don't you?" he leaned forward once more, this time really close and spoke too low for Judie to hear.

"Shift?" I looked at him.

"Turn into an animal" he spaced the words with two second gaps, looking at me like I was being intentionally dumb.

Maybe I was.

I remained silent, regardless and looked at Larry closely. He was big enough, not by much but his physique didn't spell "Shape-Shifter" any day, not to mention he seemed a little too pale face for the prospect of it.

But who was to say shape-shifters were the sole property of small tribes? Had there not been enough mingling in through the ages for those shifter genes to be spread, if it was to say that most tribes had held it...

The thought of Larry turning into anything magical was... unthinkable.

"We got some... minor witches too" he leaned back and gave Judie a wary look. "Clean your baby up and call Fran to baby sit"  
>"Why" Judie got up abruptly, knocking an ugly vase in the process. It smashed onto the floor but no one gave it much attention.<p>

"John's girl will clean you up; you can work in the pub tonight"  
>"You and Chris going to discuss the abductions?" Judie asked suddenly, taking a step forward-her bare foot going right over the shards. They crunched and she jumped in shock, lifting her foot up to cradle it in her hand and survey the damage. Her dress moved inappropriately and Larry and I both looked away in equal disturbance.<p>

"Go get ready, Judie!" Larry snapped. She rushed off then, taking little leaky Lance with her and giving me one last interested look.

When she was gone, I asked him carefully "How did you know I was a shifter?"  
>"Smell you, can't I?" he touched his nose. "Shocked you can't smell me?"<p>

"I don't know what I would be smelling you for?" I said. I was tempted to take in a deliberate sniff but Judie's home wasn't a friendly place for anyone with a functioning nose... or who needed air to survive...

"You don't?" Larry shook his head in disbelief. "Now, I may not reek of danger like you do... but come on, I gotta smell some kind of powerful?"  
>"Er, I just sensed something... back at the pub?"<p>

"Collective shifters in the pub tweaked your instincts but wasn't enough danger to bother you, eh Big John?" he grinned before slapping me on the arm "I like that and I am glad you are on my side"

"This was the odd job?" I asked him and he half shrugged.

"Chris and I don't see eye to eye on a few things" Larry said. "I guess a loner like you won't know what it's like with two leaders?"  
>Alphas... did I know about them...<p>

"You want to intimidate him" I guessed.

"I want him to agree that we need help" Larry's expression turned sour again. "We need Malwood's help. Guys like Mitch are capable of abandoning their families fair enough but no werewolf, no matter how miserable, abandons its town. Judie is right, there's been one too many abductions in this town... and if we have to beg for help from those... _people_, then well... that's just what we'll do"

Xx~xx~xX

"I have known a few humans..." Renesme leaned in really close, her hair swinging forward and brushing my face. I leaned back automatically but she snatched my hand and held me in place. "I have known a few humans..." she repeated, her flat black eyes wide and glaring into mine "But that girl is... unbearable. And smelly"

"Smelly?" I smiled, trying to tug my hand out from underneath hers. It was annoying to discover she was ignorantly stronger. Her gift hadn't poured through my pores, thankfully, and she couldn't read minds from touch...

"Oh, smelly... unwashed... just..." she scrunched up her nose in revulsion "Gross"

"Look, Larry asked" I sighed, flicking her hand. She looked down, realising she was 'touching' me and we were too close and moved back, releasing me "And Judie is number one, not human and secondly... er, depressed. She lost her husband"  
>"Werewolf husband?" Renesme was not convinced on being <em>nice, <em>folding her arms defensively and glaring at Gerard. He smiled weakly at her and she scowled.

"Yes" I groaned, looking around. I still couldn't tell who was 'regular' and who was 'shifter', although I was certain that Gerard was as human as humanly possible. He was under Renesme's spell, fully...

_You are under her spell too_, Maria's voice laughed at me. I didn't want to think about what had happened after I had kissed Maria but I did; I had called out for Renesme and Maria had shown her vicious side.

"Ness.." I began and she groaned.

"Carlie in this town, John!" she hissed "God, you have a sieve for a mind. Anything I put in there just trickles right through..."

"Whatever" I snapped "Larry says for the past couple of years, it's been almost... normal for people to go missing here. He says its increased recently"

"You think it's Lorraine" she guessed.

"Well, not _her _per say... She isn't the recruitment part of this, according to Angela" I sighed. "But yeah, The Company. God's People. But there has been something stranger and I didn't want to scare Larry so I didn't say anything"

The place was mostly empty and would probably start filling up after six. Gerard was wiping glasses, his favourite past time (he wasn't much of a people person), and Judie was overwhelmed by Renesme's makeover of her (she couldn't stop strutting up and down the place and winking at men).

"Humans have been going missing too" I said grimly.

"Well, good" she smiled evilly "I don't like them much at all!"

"Humans have been going missing..." I repeated slowly "And then found dead"

Her smile slid of her face slowly.

"Dead and...?" her eyes were wide, terrified "Drained?"  
>"Dead and Drained, Carlie" I said, this time reaching out for her hand and touching it carefully. "As long as they are in Malwood, they are safe..."<br>"Vampire" she managed in her fear. "Joham...?"  
>"I won't let anything happen to you" I tried to pull her from her fear and managed just the tiniest bit. "I can't be sure, you know..." I sighed "Trying not to say the leech word here, but Larry thinks it's all to do with The Company. Safer to keep it that way, for them" I cocked my head over to Larry's table, where his sister had finally settled down to and was enjoying her brother's power in the pub.<p>

"We need to leave" she said in a hollow tone.

"And we will, soon" I assured her.

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**I'm annoyed at how slow this is moving... my fault I guess, lol. I got tied up with university and stuff and then when I got back to this, a thousand little plots erupted.**

**Larry was mentioned when the pack drove to Malwood the first time, when Angela parked in front of a motel. Larry's Motel. **

**A couple of things to remember as we move along; 1) Alice predicted Angela turning into a vampire would be bad for the Cullens. 2)Jake trying to break the imprint in They Set Out to Kill Fate and finally succeeding (when Edward found him, those moments were crucial as Jake was walking as both man and wolf). 3)Angela has been bitten how many times by vampires, including Charles...? 4) Jane was fed on by Charles.**

**The shapeshifters that Larry's town have are significantly different from Jake and Atka's packs, explain in next chapter. I won't say much as that will be in next chapter but since ****this**** won't be I will say they do not have that moment between man and 'chosen animal, wolf polar bear etc' were they are in the 'second world', the spirit world.**

**There may be a fourth book, that would be the final.**

**Thoughts and suggestions, likes and dislikes are ALWAYS welcome!**

**Xx**

**Tj **

PS: Next Chapter titled Beasts, Animals by Maroon 5 part of the sound there. Lol.


	13. Beasts

Xx~xx~xX

**BEASTS**

Xx~xx~xX

_Animals-_Maroon Five

X~X~X

X~X

x

_Annabelle?_

She shook her head wildly, her hair thrashing over her face. When she looked back at the mirror, it was his eyes she met; green and strange. Charles Black was looking right at her, his telepathy piercing her mind.

"No" she said out loud, although she knew he was in her head and what she was seeing in the mirror was only a representation from her own mind. He blinked and the surface of the mirror rippled lightly and her own image sat opposite her once more.

Silly mind games, Annabelle Erikson thought.

She took her brush and raised it to her hair and began brushing gently. Annabelle's hair was limp and boring; Renesme's hair had been bouncy and metallic, like strands of burnt bronze. She put the brush back down next to her and pulled her hair up, pressing it and tugging it into her hand before twirling it into a bun and tying it up.

She had lost weight, a lot of it. She was a wraith, she thought, nothing special except for this mind of hers... this doorway and pathway, the stinging pulsing of flames being pushed out by this mind of hers...

She thought of the sweet smell of Renesme's burning flesh, the dark trees sucking up the smoke of it like it were sustenance and Jacob Black's booming voice, much scarier than her father's voice in that moment. Why would Jacob have thought she was strong enough to stand against Philip Erikson, to stand up to her father... let alone Malwood.

The curtains were still open, the night creeping through the trees and the safety of the day abating. Charles Black had no business entering her mind, no business at all because she was of no use...

_Annabelle please...? _He called again.

Her eyes flicked up and met green, and her mind throbbed. She closed her eyes once, and remembered Charles kissing Leah along the driveway, and her heart swirled with dark emotions mixed in with the guilt of what had happened to Renesme... her friend.

She was angry and scared and wanted to be left alone.

"I said no!" her voice was a whip in the air, and when she opened her eyes to Charles Black's, the mirror rippled, then shook and then shattered but every shard remained in place, held by the wooden frame. He was gone and her mirror was ruined, her heart thudding furiously. She was gripping the brush, and smoke rose from the handle its handle and when she released it… it was burnt where she had held it.

She threw it away from her and it clattered on the floor and in the second, two heavy thuds came from her door.

"Ah!" she got up fast, tying her gown around her. She glanced at the mirror and a sweat dripped down her neck; the mirror was completely ruined. Her father was at the other side of her door, patiently awaiting his admittance into her room-he knew he would get one.

She kicked the brush under her bed and quickly drew her curtains shut, hoping the darkness would make the mirror less conspicous before rushing back to her bed and flinging herself under the heavy throw and shouting a shrill "Come in!" to Philip Erikson.

Annabelle shut her eyes hard, red bulbs of light erupting in her dark vision from her efforts and in the darkness two green eyes looked at her from her shut eyelids.

_Annabelle?_ Charles Black tormented her.

She heard the door shut, heard the deliberate footsteps and felt the weight of her father at the edge of her bed. Her heart thudded painfully and she was hot under the throw.

"Your brother has shamed our family" her father told her gravely. She stiffened; had she not shamed their family too? Heavens knew she had done it enough the times hadn't she? Running away that first time... running away to Matthew Delong, running away from Malwood, the Company...

"But you Annabelle, my sweet darling daughter..." his voice was warmth, cajoling in her a want to be accepted and a need for his approval "You were always poisoned by your brothers crave for power"

Had she been?

_No..._ Charles Black told her. She closed her eyes and tried to close the door of her mind, but she realised as she held that mental handle that she truly did not want to close it. Charles Black, was never the enemy...even though he terrified the woman lurking underneath all the hurts of her lover, brother and father.

_Annabelle, this place is not for you. You are not weak... you are not forgettable, you are more... you saved my mother... you, Annabelle... only you can set us free from Philip, set us free... from..._

"Malwood" she whispered but Philip would have heard.

"Malwood" Philips warmth chilled in the early evening. She felt him rise from the bed, he walked to the wall and flicked the light on. She crept her fingers to the edge of the throw and pushed it down. The florescent light burned her vision momentarily and as she sat up in her bed, she saw him standing in front of her mirror.

It was dark by now, the day completely chased away and in the darkness the werewolves howled. She knew something that her father didn't, something that none of the elders knew; no one on the council and no one in the elite knew. She knew her brother, although locked away, would not have turned into a werewolf as yet... he could prolong it, for a few days now. Dominic, like her, was no ordinary Erikson.

"Father?" she murmured.

"He wants Malwood" Philip said coolly, never turning from the shattered mirror, his large hands locked behind his back. "We all do don't we?"

She gave him a moment to say more, convinced she would be chided on the mirror; an absurd thing to worry about in the face of burning a young woman, and seeing a giant wolf bound through a deranged forest.

"You've left this place..." Philip turned around and smiled at her. "You have been..." he looked at the dark burgundy curtains, through them to their world and then to the world past theirs "Out there"

"I am sorry, Father" she whispered, the tears in her eyes were hot and heavy. She wasn't sorry; she was angry and scared and the words tumbling out of her mouth came from a little girl who had never been taught anything outside of being submissive.

His eyes were on her face and she thought she saw him doubt her shame; the tears tumbled then, and his doubts were thawed with their fall. "Do not be sorry..." he smiled "I wanted you to leave. Do you think you would have left any other way, my dear Annabelle?"

She swallowed and her eyes widened; of course, only he would have made her exit from Malwood as possible as it had been.

"For you to experience the world" he said.

_For him to experience the absence of the shame you had brought through Matthew Delong, _her and Charles Black thought. It had been around the time that Dominic and Matthew had both disappeared after all, after the maid who had been Charles' Leah had disappeared too.

Malwood hadn't had as many boom gates and walls, restrictions and imperial precincts as it did now. The trees did not care so much of traffic... they called visitors freely, of their choosing, depending on blood.

Charles' Leah, and all the wolves, they had had magic in their blood and Malwood fed on the stuff, didn't it? _The good stuff_, she could hear Angela saying; that way that Angela would speak back at the Company.

"There are many more things out there in the world besides us"

"I know" she said without thought "I have seen them. Vampires... I saw them at the Company"  
>"Yes and what else did you see?" He asked.<p>

"Werewolves"

"But you have always known about them, now haven't you?" he asked sweetly and she nodded her head, a good daughter in bed being counselled by her father.

"I had thought they were stories" Annabelle said, taking her continental pillow and resting it against the headboard, leaning on it. She looked at her father, her eyes clear and alert and in her mind she felt Charles watching with her.

Her heart squeezed, could he hear her own thoughts as they rushed over each other; her ailing sentiment towards the world, her fear of this man, her apprehension of Charles and desire of him, the threat of what it would all mean to her... to them?

_You don't know evil like Philip does..._ she said bitterly to Charles and her mind went silent for a moment and then red eyes looked into her own, bright and malevolent on the face of an early teenage girl with palest blonde hair and pouty lips.

_Jane... pain... pane Jain..._

She flinched, an electric shock went through her as she gazed into the little vampire girls eyes for a moment too long.

"Shocking, isn't it" Philip smiled, misreading her reaction. "To know that nightmares are reality, to know that you come from power..." he reached over from where he sat, and touched her hand with his large one then slowly covered her hand, his large one trapping it and squeezing it almost painfully "To know you have _some _power"

"Power" she smiled unsure. When she looked at her father, she thought she saw power personified but she knew, as all Nobles knew, that there were higher forces in Malwood. Old and ancient beings hidden in the time of their town; older than vampires themselves, she thought.

"Remember when you were younger and you asked me about the war?" Philip moved closer up her bed "When you asked me about Hitler?"

She remembered. She had just turned to her teen years when she had heard it on the radio, heard it at a kitchenette she had gone with her mother but that had been years ago, a few decades. She had asked her father the purpose of war and he had told her, war had no place in Malwood.

"We are not bound by the laws beyond these trees" he repeated the words solemnly to her. "Not by the time of the world out there, not by the wars out there; this, is paradise. This is a safe haven from the curse of those abominations. Those vampires... from whence they came, be it through the serpent that poisoned Eve, who poisoned Adam..."

His eyes were dark, his face terrifying. He stopped, and smoothed his aura, looking at her with his piercing eyes. She looked away, she did not want to hear it any longer; she wanted to feed the ducks and fuss over mundane things, she wanted to feel that warmth of being loved that she had felt in Matthew...

"War has knocked at our door" Philip said "And you and your brother let it in, carrying my name in its admittance to our heaven. The serpent was let into Eden through you Annabelle and when it was time to cut its legs and put it to shame... what did you do?"

His hand squeezed hers, and it hurt so much and she cringed away from the pain and tried to tug herself free from him but he held her in place and the tears were in her eyes, hot and heavy... and they fell hard and explosive and he liked it.

"You set it free with that hell hound!" he snarled, his face close to hers and eyes shining inhuman light in the shadows of his face. "They were never supposed to leave" he hissed. "That which enters, stays; that was what the woods agreed to"

"It seems the woods changed their minds then" Annabelle breathed hard and Philips lips twisted nastily. She could feel the bones in her hand rub over each other, the pain unbearable but she held strong.

He released her hand abruptly, his eyes lost the evil shine and he smiled; sweet father once more.

"Temperamental things these trees" he laughed, rising up. "Do behave, dear daughter and find a new hobby... I wouldn't want you freeing devils and sleeping with brothers in your boredom"

Xx~xx~xX

Charles Black lay on the large bed, his legs leisurely crossed and hands tucked behind his head. His eyes were closed, his hair long and wild over the pillow and torso shirtless.

She hesitated by the door, still holding the handle.

She exited, shutting the door as quietly as she could and stood unsure outside the room. To her left, a man sat almost invisibly in the shadows of the hallway. He had let her walk past him, or had she been just as invisible as he was? She didn't understand how her mind worked, how the 'little' power she had allowed to do these 'little' things operated. It felt like an entirely separate conscious at times...

"Miss Erikson" the man spoke and she gulped down her fear as best as she could, but it was all too much to be swallowed in one moment. She trembled in front of the room occupied by Charles, the room was his prison of course and this man was the jailor.

"Yes?" her emotions escaped her and her hand felt hot. She remembered the brush that had been in her hand before, and cast a quick look to her hand. It was sweaty, to the point of appearing dipped in water.

"He cannot leave the bed" he rose from the seat, moved away from the shadows and stepped into the dim light. She recognised him but only as far as she could recognise anyone who worked for her father. She had no name, no memory of voice.

"Of course..." she fumbled over her composure "A... spell"

"A restriction, Ma'am" he bowed his head lightly and smiled at her. She smiled weakly back and took a step towards the door once more. Absurd that Charles would wish to attack her when he wanted her help... but the jailor wouldn't know that, and Charles...

She thought the restrictions imposed on him may not work. He was after all Jacob Black's son, and Jacob had broken free of an experienced witch's restriction, hadn't he? And Charles Back had _always _been something terrifyingly _other_ to all the derangement of the supernatural community.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

She finally pushed me out of her mind. A sharp pain stabbed the forefront of my mind, such a mental shove that I had reeled back onto the bed. I had not anticipated that from Annabelle and it was my own fault that I was drained now, panting on the bed. It was my mistake, mine alone because I had forgotten that Malwood had few normal beings and Annabelle being a Noble was at the top of the 'special' list...

She was exceptionally weird in a neurotic way, standing at the door and watching me.

She could never be like her father or the demented elders I had seen here, even if she turned away from being the hero but she most definitely would find herself collateral if she failed to act and she knew it. Philip Erikson had little he _wouldn't _do for power.

"You are under restriction" she said finally.

I knew what she meant by that. Of course I knew; I had tried to leave the bed ten thousand times before resorting to the 'telepathic shout out'-which was infinitesimally more successful evidently...

But more dangerous than slamming into invisible barriers and breaking my nose; the effects were slower and less physical than the broken nose (which had healed), but they would take me back to that state.

The venom state. The burn and the need, the evil and desperation...

"No one bothered to consider that I would need a toilet break" I sighed, never opening my eyes. I could feel her in the room; an animal awareness that all the supernatural had... and dogs and cats, I supposed.

"All this voodoo crap..." I began , remembering the old crow that had walked around my bed muttering things while I was restrained by an even older woman. They were ancient looking, and something in them suggested that they could have been walking the earth as long as any vampire I knew in their withered bodies.

"There was no voodoo!" her voice was high pitched and piercing. I cringed back, reaching under my head and using the pillow to muffle the echo. She was insulted by my statement and it wasn't because she gave a damn about the old women-she probably thought they were as creepy as I did, but I knew... I knew exactly what had shaken her into psycho-belle.

I had been in her mind, in her garden; I knew Annabelle in a way that scared both her and me, I knew her in a way that made me have new found respect for Edward because knowing someone's mind is an entirely different thing from knowing _them._

To dissociate the person who was in the mind to the one who spoke in the physical world... it could only be managed by a vampire.

Annabelle was insulted because she knew that she was as the women were, and contained whatever power those old women had and probably due to her birth; more than they did. It worked at her sanity to think she was part of their wretched species.

When I peeked a look at her, she was at the foot of the bed fuming. I closed my eyes, and Leah was smiling at me as I spun her over a night beach... I could almost feel her firm thigh in my hand.

"I don't understand why you would think I would help you" Annabelle's voice cut through the sound of the ocean and Leah's giggle.

"You have helped me before"

"You invaded me! Made me your tool!" she cried and her hand went to my leg, clenching hard but painlessly, too hot even through the jeans I wore.

"I had to" I got up then, regarding her; small and skinny, emotionally unkept... but I was yet to see anyone belonging to this world of ours who had it _all _together.

"I told you things..." she whimpered, hurt.

I was ashamed. I had not anticipated this as the end result of my clever actions while I had been in the laboratory. Leah had been my haven, my family my purpose; I had to save them all somehow, I had to get back to Leah... and Annabelle?

I had not spared a moment's thought on the repercussions of such an intrusion on a human mind and now she stood before me with tears implying so much of who I had become, what I had become to her...

My thorough intrusion into a human mind... no, I was wrong; she was not human. She was _ more _human, and yet less; just like I was-depending on how much power we pulled from our supernatural side.

"I was..." the apology I was about to give was unformulated and partially sincere but mostly guilt, and the foolishness in my voice shamed me further. I couldn't finish, my mouth ajar.

"I was just a tool. Like the toilet you need?" she cackled, her eyes blazing behind the tears. "Something to be utilized and appreciated according to your _pressed _needs?"

"I am not like that" I said firmly.

"How old are you Charles?" she asked.

"Huh?"  
>"Your age!" she snapped impatiently. Her hand was off my leg but the heat remained. I had a feeling it was a similar reaction to how the witch in the woods had started the flames. Those hands could throw flames, I thought.<p>

Annabelle was dangerous. Those women were dangerous. Malwood, had more than evil trees and werewolves to guard it against the world... and they wouldn't want to rock their defences one bit. We had been that push and tug to unsettle that sense of security, hadn't we...?

"Eighteen..." I said quickly.

"For how long have you been eighteen, Charles?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Since my birthday?"

She sat closer up, still crying and shuddering slightly. She trusted me not to hurt her and that eased some of the tension.

"I am recently immortal" I clarified. "I would say I am less than eighteen... but...look at me? Why not just be the legal age, eh?" I nudged her and she stopped shuddering and threw me a sulky look.

"You don't know about half vampires, do you" I guessed.

"I found out at the Hive" she rushed over the matter and sighed deeply and miserably "You are but a child"

I reeled back, the manner in which she said _child_ made it feel like she had called me a slug and I failed to hold back my "Excuse me?"

"Malwood" her voice was tired, her eyes red and puffy and skin sallow. She had always been a sort of distant beauty, and in her weakness she turned into a ghostly maiden "It has its noble families, it has its hallowed secrets and it will keep them for more than what is normally recommended out there"

She said this like it were a nursery rhyme, almost singing it. She had a bag with her and she placed it on her lap, retrieving a tattered book. She placed it on my lap, the book strangely heavy, I was shocked she had been able to carry it with such ease.

"I lost my virginity to my half brother" she said in such calmness. She quickly flipped her gaze to me, awaiting my reaction and I looked away from her wet wide eyes.

"It was nothing like I had read about in the romance books and it only happened once" she continued.

"What, it was more than perfect...?" I didn't want to have this conversation although, she made me feel better about Tanya; cold, vampire but it had most certainly not been incest.

"It was awful" she began paging through the book. "I felt pain, he grunted a bit then it was done" she reached into the bag and took out a faded grey t-shirt, too large to be hers... too tatty and un-librarian in fashion to belong to her.

"Annabelle, will you help us?" I asked softly.

"Everyone has gotten what they want from me; Daddy, Matthew, Dominic had me bring you into Malwood knowing more than I did of what I was and keeping it from me; he had known about the laws that kept the outside from us... he had made me break them..."

"I want something for a change" when she looked at me then, she smiled. "For my help and for my forgiveness Charles Black, there will be a price. You will be bound to me as I was to you in that place, at the Hive"  
>I felt ice in my heart.<p>

"I have worked out the kinks" she went on "You are part vampire, certain spells won't work on you unless I use dark magic. I am new at this obviously..." she raised the book, shaking her head. "But I am a fast learner as you well know"

I couldn't speak.

"This is Jacob's t-shirt" she told me. "Malwood Forest creates a dome that separates time and spells; what happens in here, stays in here. You are Jacob's son, I perform the spell and it searches Jacob... but it won't find him of course..."  
>"It will look for the next best thing" I said in a hollow tone.<p>

"You" she smiled sweetly. "It may not even work..." her momentary happiness trembled "Your mother is half vampire, and I would have needed her human mother's article of clothing or something..."  
>"Isabella Swan is long dead" the words moved over my lips by themselves. The vampire in me consorted with the wolf and both were not pleased with the threat Annabelle posed sitting innocently and calculated beside me.<p>

Her words spelt strangeness for my ties, my love... the imprint... I did not doubt her words. I believed them more because Annabelle Erikson was insane and it was every man in her life's fault, myself included.

Atonement had come.

"It will do then" she sighed in relief, rising from the bed and leaving me. Before she left the room, she threw an "I will help you escape, as long as you free my brother too. He may well be executed if the High Council has their way about things..."

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

The man's face was withered , lines ran through his dark skin, deep groves and sags with eyes so far into his ancient face. He looked at me, a sharp flick of his eyes. Light shone in them, bright and young despite of his age; he looked at me and he knew me.

I shocked me, pushed me back through time and age; back from this creature I had become since Esme's death, pushed me from the Father I had been to my coven, the lone soul that had fought a monster within...

I was _that _little boy so suddenly, cowering in a corner he knew I had sinned. "You killed your mother", he would say in a moment...

In a moment he would call me out and say it...

"Dead thing" he said instead. I blinked, dumbfounded. He raised his finger, slowly while his eyes remained locked to mine.

"You are locked to this earth" his voice was cracked, faltering; it had been overused.

I did not answer him, feigning confusion to the long lost dialect but I knew in those words that I had been called out to be the anomaly that I was.

"This man speaks the truth" this time he pointed at Peter. "A beast was freed"

"You have brought this Old Man to acknowledge my brother's insanity?" Kilpa stepped forward, with a cruel scowl on his face "My brother should come home with me!"

"You are not his brother!" gone was the old breaking voice, that etched face pulled into fierceness and the old man stood up straight when he had had to be carried to the parley.

Machetes and rusted knives filled the air, pointed at Kilpa and I.

"Put them away" the old man said "You do not have the powers to kill him... he is not a man"

The crude weapons were hidden once more, and looking upon the human males in the room, I realised they were not of the usual variety. I had not sensed or seen the weapons and in their departure, I still had not seen from where they had come from.

"I will die today" he sat back down and shrunk into his former weak form. "And you will be saved"

"You are to die at the hands of this monster, and I am to be saved by it?" I asked.

"I am the last guardian of the clearing this boy travelled to. If I had not abandoned it fifty years ago as a hopeless task, he may not have ever found it, his brother never been killed and the beast locked still"

"A task..." I said airily, looking at him closely.

"A task given by God but I turned from it, because I wanted to live as a man" he smiled at me then, a small knowing smile "You understand that, don't you? The true treasure of mortality... when walking this earth"

I nodded tersely.

"We are all immortal... our souls, that is" he sighed "The difference between you and man is that you accepted a potion, infected your body so you would be tethered to this earth. You feared that time had oppressed your body and that that death was too painful to be endured"

"Do not presume to know how I came to be a vampire!" I snarled and the men in the room gasped, not at my insolence toward their ancient leader but at the word 'vampire'.

They had not known until I had said it. How old was this village? How protected where they, as the Quileute had once been, through the magic that was lingering in their veins; freed from corruption... until now.

"Do you know the history of what you are?" he asked, unperturbed by my anger. "The vampires that the first of their kind... the men who bargained with that demon beast to live on forever because they did not know that immortality is for the soul not the body... those men, they were given a poison that locked their soul to a hard encasing that never altered and could scarce be harmed"

"And you know this because...?" I asked rudely "I have searched centuries for more meaning to venom and what we are..."  
>"And you found it" the old man laughed "Some things can only be found when we are not looking for them"<br>"The world is not as big as you would think" I was cool, a storm of feelings erupting in me.

"It is much bigger than I think" he whispered "When a soul is tethered to this earth in such an unnaturalness, it gets hungry. Blood is the energy, the fuel of the soul. And a soul tethered to this earth, locked in a hard body... can never enter the Spirit World"

I was silent, my insanity abating to reveal in me a previous fascination for the Quileute.

"Men need their bodies to fulfil their time on this earth before they can travel worlds and that is how it has always been..." he said "Except for the Guardians. Our bodies do not stop us from travelling"  
>"Shapeshifters" I breathed.<p>

"There are very few left with the right lineage" he sighed, shaking his head. "Certainly not enough to stop what has been unleashed. Do you understand what you have done?"  
>"I have done nothing!" I lied.<p>

"You work for the humans" he leaned forward slowly "They have abducted so many of my people who had the names of their father's, Old Guardians to the clearing... they have abducted those with the Moon Wolf curse... they have taken sages, witches... healers... and when we heard of the beautiful Priest a few days travel from us... we understood. Your kind, you vampires, are not concerned with the dealings of men. Wars and plagues, what are they to you but distractions to your eternity on this planet"

"Humans have come to understand that their estimations of time and age of this earth is inaccurate" he coughed a little and wiped his mouth with a shaking hand "What are two thousand human years converted into vampire years?"

"I know what you are..." he smiled toothlessly "I know what you have searched for"

"An... artefact" I was afraid of what I had done, of the things I had done in the name of my insanity, my heartbreak. I was afraid... I had brought the devil to the world, I had damned us...

"The Shadow Beast"

Xx~xx~xX

The trees behind us moved, uprooted and flung over the top of the forest. Birds scattered, so many of them that they formed a black cloud underneath the already shadowy sky. We could hear its snarl, still so far off and the sound of it sent the worst chill in our already cold unbeating hearts.

"What is it?!" Emmett demanded and Carlisle heard and recognised his voice. In the hut, the old man spoke but Carlisle only listened out of preternatural habit; he was wired to us now.

"The beast... obviously!" Alec hissed, spinning on his heels. He wanted to run but Jane had arrived, and as much as bitter rivalry had rocked their bond over the decades, he wanted to run... but to run away with his sister.

_You brought the Volturi... you would consort with him, with Aro... you would do this... my own..._

"He knows" I whispered. We were all here now, perfectly timed; a flawless plan-Jane and Rosalie, the other guards missing. They had taken Nahuel to safety.

Carlisle emerged from the hut, and although I had been watching him through the eyes of the humans-their sight did no justice to the deranged beauty of him now. To the scorched black of his eyes, the white of his flesh; he was a vampire.

"Come out!" Carlisle bellowed. The humans pushed out from behind him, weapons exposed and violence on their faces. "You step out from those woods and show yourselves!"

There was muttering, there was hissing, shouts and grunts; the smell of violence was before us, it was a mass of beating hearts and wide eyes behind Carlisle but behind us, death was charging on.

We did emerge, ghosting before the humans and they hissed and gasped in fright. Thunder rolled out, rain dropped and the wind thrashed. Behind us, death bounded hungrily and its footfalls burnt the earth.

"The beast is coming here!" I said quickly before Carlisle could lay his accusations out. "It comes...!" I cried "Listen, Father!"

"Beast" a few men said, those that understood the word.

"It comes?!" the denial Carlisle was in, the dazed way his eyes danced from vampire to vampire-formulating reason, denying it in his insanity; fighting to suppress love, failing to remember how to hate.

"We cannot stay!" Alec cried. He touched his sister's hand to convince her but Jane was watching Carlisle closely, engrossed in this; in the victory and fame of this new crisis of this era. She slapped Alec's hand away and moved forward and stood beside me.

"We leave, it lives and flattens half of South America..." she was more concerned on the forestry and wildlife than the humans but she didn't understand the way Carlisle did on what a demon was. In that, in his resilient faith on demons born from his father's teachings it seemed Carlisle was better prepared in understanding what a Shadow Beast was than the rest of us.

"It will kill them all!" Alice cried. She looked at the old man and thought of Billy Black; she heard the beast, oh how loud it was and how fearsome the sight of fleeing birds in the sky was... she heard it, and a part of her wanted to leave the humans to this destruction.

They had after all, awoken it; the Company... them. But had we not all rolled out the carpet in welcome for it?

"There is no time to think, prepare yourselves!" Emmett hissed, turning to face the trees, awaiting its approach. There was no time to think, it was upon us in five seconds, a gruesome creature with beady red eyes and a lolling tongue. It smelt of putrid water and its mouth never shut, its tongue hanging out over jagged yellow teeth.

It spoke, screeching nails and tumbling hate "I have come for the other brother. I have come for Cain"

Peter freed himself from the crowd and ran a few feet away, it watched him with cruel humour before leaping easily up (defying its stout grey body)and snatching him in its mouth. Its jaw clenched with such unnecessary force for a human body and blood splattered over its snout, guts squishing out from its teeth.

Peter was dead, but it did not feed on his body and instead it pawed at the entrails while a dark cloud of thoughts swirled in its mind. I couldn't hear but I could feel and sense it; this was evil, this was pure hunger for chaos, death... and life?

"What have I done, Esme" Carlisle breathed.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Dominic sat in the loneliest corner of the sealed off catacomb of the Erikson's deepest grounds. There was a recently built wall with a heavy iron door and a medium sized square opening in it with bars running through it.

I watched him through the square; he sat with his hands resting on his knees, ghostly white fingers splayed out, and his dark hair a limp curtain over his face.

"Black" Dominic's voice rang through the mossy emptiness, strong besides his bony frame, authoritative in spite of him being at wrong side of the cell door.

"It's Charles... not Jacob" I touched the heavy door, watching him. He had made no move to acknowledge me.

"I know, Black" he raised his head. He shook a tattered shirt out, rising up and putting it on. His eyes where deep in his angular face but I could still see their pulse; grey fire staring dejectedly at me.

"Leah's Charles" he half spat at me "Annabelle's Charles... _Everyone's_ Charles"

His words shocked me. I had not known Dominic in any way outside the interest he had failed to quell of my... of Leah. He stood alone behind the door, rock and moss, rats and weeds surrounding him and yet, there... he stood, wielding a strange power. He unnerved me. There was no buffer; no domineering Seth, Embry or Katherine; he had always been with one of the three, pretending to _not _have this power.

Had he been watching me as those thoughts lurked in his violent werewolf mind? I shuddered, fear trickling into my mind; I had heard what sort of werewolf Dominic was, I knew how his jaws snapped and his eyes blazed with violent greed. If I had been around him, when he turned... with those thoughts...

"I have come to free you" I told him quickly.

He laughed hard, an insane peal reverberated in the laugh "Black" he scoffed. "One of a kind, two of the same. You and your father"

"You do not know me" I said stiffly "Do not do that, do not fucking presume to know me just because you and Jacob shared a bromance"

"Bromance..." he said the word thoughtfully and I wished I hadn't uttered it in the face of Dominic the Noble.

_Your an Alpha... You have the Alpha gene in you..._

Yeah, that gene was yet to show itself. I was more of a lone wolf, wasn't I? It was Esme's voice that whispered those words to me, a thousand conversations I had once had with her overlapping into each other. Funny the pain of losing her would come now, mingling with my anger at Dominic and my itching throat...

"What, you think I do not know about fathers that are made from power?" Dominic laughed. "I hate it... I hate it so much, but at times I feel that the way I am is a result of Philip's own strange gifts. Him and my mother, you see, were not... ordinary. Their family wanted the union because they felt such a lineage would catapult in the Noble rankings. It is unfortunate that it seems they were right"

"I do not care about your family history, you realise" I said tetchily but I wondered if that was why the imprint had then chosen a half vampire for the Quileute Alpha.

"And as for your Leah..." he was pacing, amused by me; he reminded me of Philip now-if Philip was very ill and close to death from some incurable disease. "Even when she took Matthew and I from Malwood" he was at the other side of the door, shorter than I but tall enough to see through the square panel of bars. "Even when she did that, it was for you"

His fingers went through the bars and he hoisted himself up so he could look me in the eye "You unlike Leah, don't give a damn about broken creatures like me. You unlike your father have no urge to save the weak and do not fall under any laws of honour like Jacob"

"You are nothing more..." he snarled, twisting his face "Than a spoilt brat who deserves nothing; not Leah and not your family"

"You do not fucking know me!" I stood flush to the door, half slamming into it and it groaned. It was imbued with magic obviously and if it had not been there, my anger would have seen the death of the Eldest Erikson heir.

"You and I are alike" he whispered while I fumed. We were inches from each other's face, our eyes locked; my growing loathing to his ready hate. "I see it in your eyes and you see it in mine"

I rested my weight against the door and it creaked; the little power I had had been spiked by my anger.

"There is none like me" Dominic said "Just as it is with you. My patience of broken creatures is all very situational, that said... why are you here Charles? What has my situation cajoled from you that you would care to visit me?"

"Your sister sent me" I spat.

"Annabelle" he blinked.

"Her" I was too angry to talk for a moment, my arms shaking and a heat I knew well and feared running over my skin.

"I told her..." he breathed "I told her to stay out of it. We had misjudged in helping Jacob Black... I told her. Why would she want to associate herself to more of this!"

"You are to be killed" this I managed to say calmly and with an odd satisfaction. I looked at him and my anger did abate; a slow pull back into the ocean of other rages. He and I may be the same; pain and selfish desires.

Damn the world, in the flames of those desires.

"I need to free you" I told him slowly "Tell me how to do it"

"Interesting you should come now?" he smiled softly "I was supposed to have turned and killed them" he pointed to the left and I peered as best as I could, recognising the sneakers peeking out to belong to Angela. How had I missed them?! How had I failed to sense them...!?

"They have been _spelled_" Dominic explained. "I was to have turned and killed Angela and... her"

"Maria" I guessed. "How do I free you?!"

"You are not going to" Dominic smiled sadly but it was strange. He was strange in that moment as he said this; like an alternate Dominic "This all has to end now"  
>"Don't be absurd, you will kill them?!" I hissed "You will turn eventually... you will kill Angela!"<p>

"So much has changed inside me" he said "I am not the same"  
>"You are part of the pack!" I said automatically.<p>

"No werewolf is part of a pack" he laughed then he was back to who he truly was "I am so... strange. I am no werewolf of Malwood if I am part of a bloody pack! I have to be part of the trees! And if they are not my master, they will damn sure make sure no one else will be either!"

"You have no master"

"Liar!" he said coolly "Did you father not command me? Did I not have allegiance with him and his cause, even as a werewolf?"

"You said it yourself, Jacob is of honour"

"I did not say there was evil in him commanding me" he looked away "I scarce think he knew what he was doing"

He stood silent for a moment and then said "You need to get the wolves here if we are to be free"

"But Angela...!" I hissed.

"Does it look like I am about to turn any time soon?" he asked. I looked at him closely and saw the shakes were not near at all. "You need to get the wolves and they would have been sent to the Delong cabin... the cabin were your mother had been caught" 

"I will be back" I said, moving back. I meant this, outside of wanting to free Angela and Maria; I meant it when I said it now, that I wanted to free Dominic.

"It's easy to get to the cabin..." Dominic said "Getting out is another story"  
>"Jacob did it"<br>"Oh yes, he did didn't he?" he smiled. "One of a kind, eh?"

"Two of the same" I sped out. I would be back for him, I swore to my heart.

Honour, was being a Black.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Round Ryan sat in the shadows at the very back of the supermarket with a six pack of beers in front of him. He had not noticed us, staring out into the gloom and for a moment, Jacob and I stood and watched him take two swigs of his beer.

I hadn't realised that I too had been affected by the primal euphoria from the pub that spilled out everywhere, until I had seen Ryan's face. Ryan was on guard, tensed and the drunkenness filling this side of town did not push him out of his caution as it had done with Jacob and me.

"You said I could come here if it got to be too much back there?" Jacob murmured and Ryan started a little, a dribble of beer escaping down his chin. He wiped his chin hastily, and through the night he peered at me. He reached behind him and a lantern was turned on, a small perimeter of dim white spread out by the makeshift camp prop he sat in.

"I didn't think you would come..." he laughed but it was sad sounding, never reaching his eyes. His large body was squashed in the camp chair, a heavy looking shot gun resting against the arm. There was a metal plate on the butt of the shot gun and a swirling design engraved on it.

I coughed indicatively at Jacob and Ryan laughed. "Sweetness..." he touched the gun lovingly "I'm well aware that there ain't enough thrust in this..." he raised the gun up and I could see it was no ordinary weapon "To actually harm you, beautiful"

"You don't know me!" I hissed, taking a threatening step forward only to bump into Jacob's outstretched hand blocking me. I sauntered back next to him, glowering at Ryan. I had never liked him, although Jacob had seemed to grow fond of his sneaky ways.

"Maybe I don't know you... Maybe I do know something..." Ryan sang, placing his gun back beside him and taking his beer. He looked at it thoughtfully, and before he drank from it he said "But I know the likes of John and they only come around once in every lifetime. Power"

He said the word 'Power' with a calm reverence. I looked at Jacob, at his hand that had not yet been lowered (as though I was a newborn, incapable of reigning in my emotions), and then back at Ryan.

"I am older than I seem" Ryan sighed "Gerard wouldn't know naturally, or would he? Who knows what people find strange and normal these days? What I can tell you Mr John Doe is that I ain't too old that I find myself forgetting the important things"

"You called us out here to discuss memory loss?!" I snapped.

"Technically ma'am, I told John he could use my store to rest a bit. You see, those meetings take days sometimes... drinking, fighting... fucking" he eyed me with veiled dislike, smiling when I turned away at the last thing he had said.

"He decided to bring you for company, how sweet" Ryan smiled nastily, spotting the tequila in Jacob's hand "You going to down that Coyote Gold with just one special lady?"

"I guess so" Jacob said slowly, never commenting on all Ryan had said "I was told its rare, I was told it's something special for Shape shifters"  
>"She ain't no shape shifter, John" Ryan got up, ignoring my snarl as best as he could. He now knew I wouldn't hurt him I guess but my anger could not be told in the moment. "If the Coyotes gave you that, it must mean that Larry told them you are in his pack..."<br>"I do not serve in any ones pack!" Jacob's snarl threw mine into shame, the amber of the wolf flashing in his eyes and Ryan, well... he couldn't feign bravery in the face of an Alpha like Jake.

An Alpha like Jake, I thought. From Larry to Atka, Jacob stood out as an Alpha. He stood out even from Sam, even from the Old Jacob; he had died and come back. He had venom, I thought. He had venom laced with his DNA, didn't he... through his own shared DNA with Charles after Charles had infected him.

"I have to go guard the service station" Ryan said after a moment "All this traffic of Folk from other towns... it's just danger waiting to happen. And Larry is so bent on Malwood his forgotten the other risks that still lurk around"

"Mr John" Ryan said before exiting the shop "I hope you are not considering this war on Malwood 'cause that's what it is. A takeover of that town is what Larry _really _wants, ain't no talks on peace and assistance are going to happen... and if I know Malwood like I remember it, three quarters of our town will be dead by the end of it. Power, Mr John... is not something all are born with and some, like Larry, will seek it to the ends of the world"

Xx~xx~xX

"You are not going to get involved in this Malwood business, are you?" I asked Jacob carefully. He had taken over Ryan's seat and pulled the cooler box Ryan had left to his side. He had his eyes closed, the bottle of tequila cradled on his lap and that previous youthfulness that had shown on his face, when he called me to him from the pub, long gone.

"Do you know what today is...?" he asked.

I looked at him dumbfounded and began flipping through a mental calendar. There was nothing important in the world left besides surviving and unless we had a dead line to that, it didn't matter.

"What has that got to do with the war on Malwood!"  
>"There is no war on Malwood, they want to <em>talk<em> to Malwood..." he said but even he didn't sound so sure, there were factors that were beyond his knowledge and he knew it. "It has nothing to do with us, regardless" he finished. "Besides the fact that if Larry succeeds it will guide the pack and Angela out of Malwood. That is all I am interested in, and you and I will carry on as planned..."

"Then tell me..." I pulled a seat opposite him, bracing my hands on my knees "Why is Larry going through all this effort? The title you are being offered, the bloody Coyote Gold..." I grabbed the bottle from him and he started, reaching up like a child, his eyes large and alarmed "Judie of all things?"

"Judie?" it was his turn to be dumbfounded and when understanding sunk in, he said her name with a lilting amusement "_Judie..._"

"Well, I mean... yeah?" I felt like coldest ice had been poured over my head.

"Who said it's _just_ Judie?" he asked, grinning his wolfy grin. I wanted to hit him with the tequila bottle but instead, I opened the cap and took a curt sip, sitting back down.

"Larry said he'd like me as a brother" Jacob smiled "And he said if I need someone nice to look at..."

I am nice to look at, I almost said.

"Wasn't Maria something nice enough to look at or have you already forgotten about her?" I eyed him with as much loaded distaste as I could manage. He had the decency to blanch.

"Give me that!" he pushed his hand out and waited impatiently for me to pass the tequila. I got up again and kicked the cooler box, the beers inside clinking against each other. I drank again, the liquid a torrent through my throat, pushing my thirst away with its heat. It burned right through my thirst and scorched my chest.

"You had it all together, didn't you?" he retracted his hand when he saw I wasn't about to hand him his tequila and he took a beer from the cooler box.

"Had it together?" I raised an eyebrow.

"The act..." he pointed at me, wagging his hand down at my attire. "The hair, the makeup everything. You had it all together till Larry said I could have my choice of fair maidens"  
>"You are going to call Judie a fair maiden now?" I scoffed " I understood Maria, heck she could be Leah's shorter and chubbier sister... but Judie?"<br>"Judie is more human than you could ever hope to be" he said calmly and it was my turn to blanch.

"I don't care about that" my voice betrayed me. I was rattled and confused by everything, I didn't understand the politics of this place like Jacob did. I drank again, longer and the heat went up to my head before it dripped down my spine, sinking to my toes.

"Go easy on the good stuff, Bronze" he said softly, but he made no move to retrieve the tequila, drinking his beer and watching me.

"Why did you call me out here...?" I asked him, watching him just as he watched me. I stalked the perimeter around the sprayed lamp light, his eyes following me; sucking up the dim bright and throwing it back with enough supernatural twinkle. He wouldn't see as I did, I was in a shadowy day-but he could see me, and as usual...

As was normal with Jacob Black, the new and improved... the old and true...

He could see through me too.

"Ryan asked you to come out so he could plead with you to steer clear of Larry's silent war cry..." He remained silent, a long sip of his beer. I had missed it, but he was now on the fourth and I had missed exactly how much I had drunk. I felt flushed, hot and energetic.

"You didn't need to call me out" I said.

"No, I didn't" he agreed. He reached into his jean pocket, stretching his long body out in the chair so he could retrieve something-a wallet-and flipped it open. He thumbed through a few cards, remnants of a time when he had been mature enough to have credit cards and the such, and took out a picture. It was folded, he straightened it and turned it over so the image was facing me.

It was a picture of a child, pale and pretty with large brown eyes and auburn hair. She was fisting his hair, and smiling shyly at me. She had been smiling at Leah; I had been so astounded when Leah had offered to take a picture of Jake and I on my birthday-I had turned nine physically.

It was a picture of Jacob and I.

"Nessie's birthday at the beach" Jacob read. He folded the picture again and I realised the way it had been folded repeatedly separated my face and his... I wondered if he had done it now or before the amnesia. I drank again, this time passing the tequila to him and falling into the chair opposite him.

"There's a date written at the back" he said. "I guessed the date was your birthday"

"You saw that today?" I asked. I partially thought it likely he would never open the wallet-why would he? I kept the money and any change he came by was stuffed in his pockets.

"Maybe the first week I woke up from the comma" he sighed. He took an inexperienced gulp of the tequila and frowned before smiling a little "This is good"

He placed the bottle down and pulled me up to him, not too close but still unusual for him and I. I hid my shock at the contact and the action and he hid his own awkwardness at his own actions too. He pushed my hair back "Your curls are coming through" he sighed "The bronze is growing out too"

"You sound disappointed?" I muttered, unable to look at him and the feel of his hand still holding mine too distracting. I wanted to pull away, to take a step back and breathe in something that wasn't him. "You would like black hair, wouldn't you..."

"It's not like that!" he laughed "I just... it's nice. The red-brown, I like it. It suits you… I mean, it _is_ you…" he was rambling I thought but I couldn't be too sure "Black is nice on you" he pursed his lips hard for a moment, furrowing his brow like he had a headache before he let out a whooshing sound with the words "Everything is nice on you!"

"I don't care what you like" I was about to pull away from him then he shocked me by hoisting me into his arms. I froze in shock but he ignored it and he squeezed me and I couldn't run away from his scent any longer; I breathed and it was pine trees and warmth, home and safety.

"Happy Birthday, Nessie" he said my name like he used to, but it still wasn't the same; just like him, it was old and a new version.

He released me, brushing the hair away from my face and planted a burning kiss on my forehead.

I blinked, astounded. "Do you want to go back?"he asked slowly. He eyed me hesitantly, his heart thumping a little fast and cologne swirling headily. I remained frozen and he tried to contain the awkwardness, to calm his nervousness at the unfathomable scene he had spun out.

I thought about it for a moment and behind my deliberation on whether to endure the primal atmosphere in Larry's pub, to still my own violent beast begging to join the savagery...

Behind my need to run from this scene was the song of all the million kisses he had ever planted on my forehead, a sweet and heartbreaking hymn.

"You used to do that" I told him and when he raised an eyebrow in confusion, I touched my forehead indicatively "You used to kiss me a lot, there" I elaborated.

"So nothing awkward about this" he gave the most sincere smile I had ever seen on his face as he said this, and never had I looked at him and seen the sixteen year old boy until now. The inexperienced boy, the fine man… never had I seen him the way I saw him now.

I thought about the million times he had kissed my forehead. Not once had it been hot like that, not once had his lips trembled on the skin there in a lusciousness of unfamiliarity because that kiss, was not part of any of the million. It resembled none, and how could one be more valued than a million?

That tremble left me tingling, awoke a small ray of light in me and that light pulsed.

I took a step forward, a clumsy one for me, for behind my urges was logic and fear; fear of him and fear of rejection; for rejection had been all I had come to know since he had forgotten who I had once been to him; the good me that had once existed.

My heart was in my throat, my skin was raw with feeling; the air, him-contact; my breathing was unlearnt; shallow gulps and stuttering exhales.

And in all that humanness, all I managed in that one torturous step was to kiss the corner of his parted lips.

"Thank you for remembering me" I said, the voice to those words foreign to me, the words themselves ironic and pathetic; he didn't actually remember me.

He moved back, an awkwardness that knocked the cooler box over, melted ice and beers spilling out. With one sharp exhale, he gulped the tequila down, the amber of the wolf piercing me from his eyes.

I was pinned to the floor, my heart racing and ears ringing. He pushed the bottle out to me and when I made no move to take it, he growled "Drink it"

I took it then, my fingers brushing his fingers. The burning of his skin almost saw me dropping the rare Coyote Gold. I didn't drink it, staring at him in shocked wonder.

"Drink!" he commanded but my hand only raised the bottle half way before I shook my mind free of his dominance. "Please..." he then begged, taking another step back and it was then that I realised he had no dominion where we were; this dark Eden him and I had stumbled into.

Had we stumbled into it unknowingly or had one of us willed the other here? A silent wish on a shooting star, and that desire would be painted across the universe once more; a single rose in a secret garden finally blooming, its fragrance intoxicating.

I watched him, the wolf was long gone and a brown eyed young man stood before me. I watched him and saw him as I had never seen him before; unlearnt but curious, scared but daring; he wanted me.

I gasped, heat spreading over me.

"Drink Nessie" he whispered, sitting stiffly back in his camping chair. He closed his eyes and I could see the singular plea on his face-_please, let this go_-and when he opened them, as slow as creation, eyes as dark as onyx and weighted with desire and fear...

I moved forward.

"It's your birthday" he smiled but still his eyes said everything.

"I don't age..." I heard myself say, it had to be my voice but the torrent of blood rushing through my veins and his heavy heart beat made me unsure. "Birthdays are pointless as a result" 

It was me; the voice, the thoughts and the body-even the lust and bravery. I couldn't deny it any longer, there was no one to deny it to. We were alone in this eternity of chaos; was I finally me and was I looking at the real Jacob; untainted by heartbreak and innocent?  
>I moved and he failed to disappear as the fear in his eyes suggested he wanted me to.<p>

"Is this my gift?" I raised the bottle.

"It was... impromptu" his voice was rolled in honey and gravel.

"You could have asked me what I wanted"

"I... didn't think to ask. I had no..." he stuttered. I reached him and stood between his legs, touching the back of his hand with a single finger. "No idea..." he finished, forcing his gaze to stay locked with mine.

I nudged his legs open further and he reached his hands down, gripping the legs of his chair. His heart was thudding lusciously and my throat roared.

"You are giving me that look Nessie" he said. How I had forgotten how hot his voice was when he wanted me... had it ever been like this? Had anything ever been this way? "You are giving me the hungry look, Nessie..."  
>"So" I said cheekily. I played with his hair and his eyelids half closed and when I moved through the dark strands and felt his scalp, his eyes rolled just the tiniest seductive bit.<p>

"You can't have my blood" he growled. "Even if it is your birthday"  
>"Who said I want your blood..." I laughed "Well, who said I want <em>just <em>your blood"  
>I sat on his lap and he failed to reply, and his hands twitched to leave the legs of the chair... they twitched to touch me. They wanted to feel; I was burning with want of him and he was still trying to deny his own of me.<p>

"What do you want of me?" he begged, looking up at me.

"A kiss"

"I kissed you!" he was out of breath, breathing hard; fighting to not touch me. "I... kissed you" he removed one hand, reached a finger up and pressed it on my forehead "There"

"And if I want that kiss here?" I took his hand, led his pointing finger to my lips and kissed it. He growled, a low rumbling sound and outside the wildness of the Shifter party continued, music booming and animal sounds.

"There!" he snarled, taking his hand back and leading it to the small of my back. He pressed forward and I leaned in, and his lips moved lightly over mine; the briefest of impure chaste kisses. He leaned back and the amber was in his eyes. "Just as you wanted" his voice was primal, his eyes never turning back to his own. They glowed orange fire. I had never seen that; I wanted it for myself, for always.

I took his hand again and he pointed his finger out automatically. I raised it to my lips and he watched with lusty anticipation "Not like that" I told him. A loud bang came from outside but our fast hearts drowned it out in the end. "Like this" I told him, pushing his finger into my mouth and sucking and swirling my tongue on it.

He groaned hard, exhaling sharply and rocking up. Both his hands left the legs of the chair, they went to my back, they felt my bottom, they ran up and down my hips, along my spine, fisted my shirt...

He did this for a good minute with his eyes closed and breathing harried.

"No" he said finally, removing his hands and putting them behind his head in a show of coolness but he knew I could feel how hard he was. "I don't owe you anything..."

"Huh?" I was confused for a moment then I recognised the snarky grin and anger filled me as well as embarrassment "Fuck you, Jacob Black" I made to move off his lap and his hands moved like lightning and gripped my hips and held me in place. I could have freed myself forcefully but the shock kept me still.

"No you won't be fucking me!" he sniggered.

"You are such a dick!" I snarled and then added nastily "And... a virgin. A virgin dick"

That took him by surprise and his grip loosened.

"...you are a spoilt brat" he said eventually, frowning. "Get off me"

"Fuck you, Jake..." I said and before I got off him, I kissed him hard. I kissed him with desire, with sadness, with... with love, with want, with memory and future. I got off him and danced to the counter, the tequila back in my hands.

"Best birthday I have had in a few years, regardless" I raised the bottle and took a swig.

He got up shakily, his erection persistent and eyes blazing hot. He moved towards me and I felt fear; I wanted to run away... or crash into him. Something, anything... it was all instinct, all primal...

He took the bottle from me and threw it into the dark store where it smashed, he pulled me by my hips flush to him and moved my hair away, pulled my head back and kissed me right back. It burned sweetly, the honey of it dripping down south and pulsing. I had gone too long without this feeling; I was addicted.

I liked how tall he was, I liked how strong he was, I liked how he smelt, I like how his hands explored and conquered, how his lips moved... I _really_ liked that...

He undid the button of my jeans and placed me on top of the counter all while kissing me. He unzipped my pants and stood between my legs; I throbbed.

He kissed down my neck, and before his fingers went into my panties he whispered "Payback for what you did to my neck back in Malwood..."

As he bit into my skin, hard enough that it hurt, he rubbed gently with his fingers. I moaned loud and he growled. He did it over and over again, slow circles, fast ones, hard ones, gentle ones... but his bites and nibbles were always hard. The kisses there breathy, the sucks deep...

My moans and groans mingled with the chaos outside and when his fingers went inside me, my cry fell in tune with every loud bang. He flicked his fingers forward rhythmically and the cries got louder and throatier, the shuddering and wetness distracting and it was only the explosion outside that brought our sanity back somewhat as I had my first orgasm in _months_.

"Uh, I guess I did that the right way..." he moved back, his hands leaving my underwear. He looked at the hand he had used and grinned. It glistened in the dark. I could feel myself redden. "Happy Birthday then"

"You are an ass" I grumbled, jumping off the table and buttoning my jeans, zipping them up and wishing I hadn't done that. I was afraid, of having let him do that.

"Happy Birthday" he said seriously, tilting my head up and kissing my forehead again and that fear left my mind for a moment. "But I think we really need to go see what's going on out there. That party sounds like a war"

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**I know, it took forever and I apologise.**

**The first half of this was done in January and then I realised that I had too many ideas and they may not all fit in this one book (this was to be the final of they set out). Charles and Leah fans, that being said... the two will have their moment (moments). Varsity and Life also got in the way.**

**Please remember to review! Criticism, loves, likes, dislikes, suggestions... the like, are always welcome.**

**XX**

**KitKat.**


	14. The Last Night on Earth

**THE LAST NIGHT ON EARTH 1**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**X**

**x**

The bloodlust was overwhelming.

It forced us to the edge of the village, the coldness we had been crafted from had turned into an inferno; fear... _boiling_ fear.

Fear of this kind was foreign; we were never the prey. We were the violence that rocked any sanctuary, the unprecedented cruelty to walk this earth but this, it superseded all ego we had on our damnation; it squashed all worry on our salvation.

What was it...?

The man was dead. So very dead, and his blood was in the air hot and heavy, chanting to us; calling us to join in on the violence.

It eyed us with such queasy curiosity that I felt naked and weak;_ why do you not feast? _It asked. The voice, I hated it and it rang in my mind with a barbed tenor; scratching the insides of my skull. I reeled back, slamming my hands to the sides of my head to dull the ache of its mental voice heard through my telepathy.

"Edward?" it was Rosalie, her hand was on my shoulder but I couldn't see; I saw pain for a moment, amplified visual pain and then it cleared and I saw it there... by the blood, the guts, the dead man. And then it was there no more, it was in the crowd of humans and its hands-no, claws... nail riddled paws-they slashed this way and that way and blood was in the air.

Blood was in the air, sweet life and heaven... it bloomed into a cloud of lusty red in our vampiric minds and it, the monster, it spun it out for us; _feast..._it demanded and in a second, the Volturi were in it.

The humans hacked at each other mindlessly, the beast sliced through them... and the vampires _drank_.

"No..." Carlisle whimpered, caught between pain, fear and guilt but for once, since the death of Esme... his mind was as I remembered it.

But it was all too late; it was free, as it wanted and that night the village would be levelled.

I could see it, every last human would die and we could not restrain it; the monster, ourselves.

The blood was in the air and the demon's voice rang through my mind and I was paralyzed by the pain and malice of it; _feast. _They could not hear it as I did, but they felt it... and they feasted, while I lay there in the dirt coiled in a blinding pain and raging inferno of _dirty_ thoughts.

They drank blood, they tore limbs. They were vampires, they were monsters, they were infected by it; _feast._

Alice saw it in the midst of her sin, Carlisle Cullen was to die; but the shock Alice felt in seeing the vision after being blinded for so long, the shock she felt in seeing the vision after being clouded by _feast, drink, rip..._ caused her to stutter.

"No" she breathed.

I was in the dirt and Carlisle stood locked with the beast's eyes; he and I were the only ones not covered in blood, not quenching the painful thirst. It flung itself as it had with Peter, across the ruined village with its mouth gaping and its mind one singular image; _Feast!_

He would die. Oh, he was going to die; I couldn't move, the pain unbearable and the thirst the most jailing I had ever had... they were all too caught up in the _feast _to take care that our maker would soon... see _his_ beloved maker.

_Feast!_

Move! I wanted to yell to Carlisle, to run to him and drag him away; be away from this. This was hell, this was sacrilege to everything he stood for as a vampire and everything he had wanted to build with his wife of a sin free vampirism; there were his children rolling in blood.

Drenched with it.

He was welcoming death, I realised; the option to run was his but he didn't take it.

_Feast!_

But Carlisle didn't die.

Emmett saved him, bravest of all of us; brave enough to defy the mantra, brave enough to be between its jaws, his hands around the snout and face contorted in pain. It clenched and he groaned, silver spitting out of his mouth and purple trench like veins spreading out from beneath his shirt up to his neck. It was the worst, Rosalie caught in its spell unaware that her love had sacrificed his immortality to save our father, Alice back to the killing, Jasper so long gone... oh, this was hell.

And he died.

I watched my beloved brother die while my family drank a village dry of life and the devil watched with a smile on its face.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**RENESME CULLEN**

The world spun on its heel. Heaven was beneath us, hell was upon us; angels and demons, beasts and men...

Horror.

It was all horror, a nightmare, a fearsome one. Wake me up... the thought rang through my mind, seeped through my pores and travelled to Jacob Black's heart. I held his hand, too tight and wouldn't let go. We were both paralyzed; the horror before us rolling out.

It saturated the air-so thick and overpowering; blood. My throat roared with thirst, instinct willed me to unleash the vampire; fling yourself into the ball of violence, be absorbed by the destruction and death; _quench your thirst_.

I moved forward and he held me back; he had heard that thought too. I looked up to him, astounded by my slip up; my slip up of my humanity, of myself respect (again, the thought that he had experienced something entirely different back in the store played across my mind; _had he stolen my self-respect when his hands were between my legs_?).

He heard that thought, the insecurity pathetically laced in it and I was humiliated. Shame was in me too; how I could bare to be absorbed in my own pain in this moment? His weighty gaze of the shape-shifter violence, werewolf massacre and human blood bath-that astonishment of what he was seeing shivered on his face, and for a minute he was confused. I forcefully let my hand free of his.

"God" he managed.

It was hell. The shape shifters, who were unlike any I had ever seen as they retained the same size as the animals they transformed into, lay either naked in their human forms, dead... or gutted and dying in their animal forms. The werewolves were baying, and it sung out like a dark orchestra; this town never had a chance.

"NO..." his expression had changed. A cold darkness covered his rugged face, and anger; oh, a dreadful one-it rippled through his body. It shook him and blurred him...

"Jake, you can't!" I cried. He looked at me sharply, he cut me with that gaze and I silenced, the thought flashing over my mind once more; I had no self respect, I was self absorbed... I cared only for _my_ world...

Jacob Black was an Alpha.

I backed away, looking away from him. I felt heat coming from above me, an instinctual heat; something was up on the roof of Larry's Pub. The roof was half ruined, smoke rising from it and around that building, other buildings burned and crumbled. I saw nothing but my fear had increased.

I wanted to run away, Jacob wanted to run towards the hell.

I saw Judy from behind a horse-no, a shape shifter-soot covered and trembling, traumatized. I saw her and I don't know why I couldn't look away, I don't know why my gaze wove through the thrashing violence and locked with her form. She felt that gaze and snapped her head, and saw me; a weird pained smile came of her face.

Hope. She looked at me with _hope_.

It was a pathetic hope, desperate and illogical; it wasn't like I would save her? I wouldn't save her... I couldn't, I had had enough of wars, hadn't I?

But then, that sensation I had spiked and when I looked up at the gaping roof of Larry's pub I locked eyes with a vampire. It had black blood smeared on its chin, eyes shining wildly. It smiled and I looked back at Judy quickly; it followed my gaze and saw her, in the same light as I had seen her through the chaos; a lamb, helpless and alone...

Any predator would be drawn to that.

"Jake..." I was still pleading with him, and from the corner of my eye I saw he was still mid-phase; had time slowed for this? For my mind and heart to have its own silent war; save her, leave her... live another day? I had a son, she had a son...?

And just as that moment of moral dilemma and selfish concern rolled out for a decade, it ended in a dizzying flash and I had her in my arms, that shifter horse galloping right into a phased Jacob.

And the vampire was upon us.

"NGh!" she groaned, struggling in my arms. I held her, tried to still her; but she was panicked, having never seen me move across the lot.

"Judy!" I pleaded and she stilled at the sound of her name, curling in my arms like a baby and whimpering as we sliced through the air, the violence was astride us; the vampire, crept behind us... stalking. I had no straight path to go through, no true idea of where safety would be; I wove through animals and werewolves, and still it followed; and through the bodies and ruins, its persistence never died.

"Run!" it half roared, half cackled and I shivered at the preternatural volume of it; it was young. A new born. No moderation, no self control and wicked childishness to life. The worst.

"Judy, hold on...!" I begged, turning my head sharply once, swerving left but it was gaining on us. I was not nearly that fast, not nearly that strong... not nearly... much. I calculated quickly; it would catch us within ten minutes of this chase and probably, the duration of that time was as long as it was due to the _chase _itself; it was having fun.

I remembered the left side of town that I had been stubbornly settled to but now we had moved to the deep south in this chase-away from the chaos back around the pub, five minutes left till I would have to fight it and Judy's tears seeping through my t-shirt. I wondered what Jacob was doing now? Trying to save everyone like the Alpha he was...

Did he know that I may just die tonight...?

I turned into the wrong street, the road fast turning from potholes to hard dirt and ahead of us homes turned into tattered cabins. The night was humanly silent, but my preternatural senses could hear the distant death. Two minutes and I'd have to throw Judy from me and face the New Born...

One minute left and I saw lights ahead, the adrenaline in me fusing my senses to the unforeseen danger in front of Judy and I, never mind the over excited New Born. Joham stood calmly in front of two large werewolves, his hands behind his back and deadly black eyes focused on my speeding form.

We had been herded to this point, every turn and every snapping werewolf... we...no, not _we_... that vampire on the roof, the one behind me right now... it had been targeting _me. _I skidded to a halt, Judy groaning at the force, her body slamming into mine. I looked at Joham and he frowned deeply, I looked behind me and the New Born was not alone any longer; two other vampires had joined him.

"You silly girl" Joham said and I knew, the way his voice chilled my core and the little moan Judy let out; I knew that if he had his way I would die this time around; I had nothing to offer him save for sweet revenge to whatever madness my mother had committed.

"Joham" I greeted, placing Judy down. She wobbled when her feet touched the ground, and then fell over but before she ever had the chance to hit the ground; I heard the New Born move. I heard its light powerful feet sweep the earth, I knew its intentions and I thought of Judy's little boy with the ever running nose.

She died in the New Born's arms, her neck ravaged and head held by strands of flesh and broken spine. I remained still, feeling the coldness of vampirism coddle me and protect me from this violence; this was natural to my vampirism, violent insanity to my humanity.

"Was she important?" Joham asked innocently and I shook my head, my eyes prickling. "Was she meant as a snack before you die?"

"I am not here to die" I was confident of the fact. Where was he? Was he alive still, fighting everyone else's battles but his own, saving our son... saving his pack? Did he know that I could die?

Was I about to die?

The thought rang in the background of reality; was I? Was there a chance? I was not here to die, but death was natural and if it happened I shouldn't fear it, should I?

"My son..." Joham was different, unpredictable and the threat he posed increased exponentially. "He has gone missing"

"Maybe he took a vacation from your crazy" the sound of my voice, the words the voice spoke, the confidence in me... it shocked me. I could die? You were about to die Renesme...

_At least you got to kiss Jacob..._ a little voice whispered and I giggled outright; was I going mad? Petrified into madness?

He was offended by the giggle, malice so dark it cast his eyes in shade "I shall drink you dry, burn you and carry your ashes in a rusted can"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**CHARLES BLACK**

The string around my neck was heavy; as though it were made of rock, as though the few drops of blood dangling in the vial was a thousand litres. I could scarce see the red of Annabelle's blood in the vial; it seemed black until glinting in the nightlight.

_Black Magic..._ I thought, and the thought itself was serenaded with Jacob Black-the teenager, not my father-snickering that this wasn't an episode of _Vampire Diaries_ or _Charmed_.

I was hiding in the bushes just off of the Erikson Manor's immediate perimeter; Annabelle had called for me to come back for the drops of her blood-the only way that I would have been able to lead the pack out of the woods around the cursed cabin. There was a search party held in my name and dreaded witches moved around the grounds, shuffling and vile.

Annabelle was practically chained to her father's side; I had no doubt that Philip knew his daughter aided in my escape, but if his words that I had heard through her mind were anything to go by; he would deny such a thing.

Two children adulterous to his bloodline?

I moved back into the shadows, the night was still too young for the darkness to be trusted; the night was still too young, for any werewolves to have fully turned... but I could feel the danger in the air, around me. I had no time.

With one last glance at the manor, I willed myself to pull the strength of my father to me; I could not be a vampire in any way, right now. I ran a steady pace through the trees and they seemed to sway; confused by me.

_Leah..._ I called but the whisper of her name in my mind caused a sweat to break out; I was sure it was not the jog-just like before, when I was on the bed... anything that was filtering from Edward, from Renesme... anything that was vampire in nature, strained my body.

But I was relentless, moving through the dark woods and making my way back to Dominic-I had to get to him before them. I had to have him at my side when the pack charged through the forest and out of this damned town.

The dread I felt in turning into a wolf was on par with trusting Dominic as a werewolf, with fighting the werewolves of Malwood; those regal malformations and their glinting teeth, their souls ruled by the trees, by those old crows.

I had no intention of holding up my bargain with Annabelle; how the hell was I supposed to free her from Philip Erikson's side?

But she had promised me that we were tethered now... that I could scarce move fifty metres out of Malwood, without her by my side.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Standing in the woods, a thick darkness shrouding us with the cabin in its epicentre... I was aware of one thing. The anger had gone.

The anger had never existed?

Impossible... I remembered it; the boiling heat when I watched Jacob watching Renesme. When I knew that our lives would be so different if he had never imprinted on her. Our lives would have been a dull heaven, but a heaven nonetheless...

_Embry..._ Leah warned. My own thoughts spluttered as hers increased in volume, her imprint flashed over my vision; Charles, the Quileute version of Edward Cullen. Except, of course, when Leah thought of him, it wasn't like that.

I suppose it wasn't like that for me either, thinking of him without the odd anger that had disappeared. The cruel way in which I had spoken of Renesme? Did I care now, was this guilt... what was happening to me...?

Or more importantly, what _had _happened to me when we were at the Erikson Estate?

We had been loitering in the forest around the cabin for a good three hours, after failing to run from the enclosure; magic, a dreadful thing. Billy was whining about being tired, his thoughts tainted with the image of his uncle blazing through the woods with Renesme.

Collin and Bradley were as sombre as they could be. Atka sat on his hind legs, studying the cabin; should we go in there? Is it a ploy, a trap?

In his misery, Billy thought of Renesme; he thought of the smell of her burning flesh. There was a collective mental groan; we had successfully blotted out that nightmare for a good ten minutes and that had been a _feat_.

_Should we go into the cabin? _Seth asked carefully. He took a step forward, ahead of me and I growled instinctively. He got back in line immediately, two steps back as it was; me ahead, Leah and then him.

In the background of all their minds, I could feel what they really thought; I had bullied my way into this position; bloodlines be damned.

I ignored it; they didn't understand a lot, they had not been in Philip Erikson's office as I had. They had not looked into his eyes, dreamt evil things, and heard vindictive whispers... smelt the pine-cruelty of the trees, as I had.

Poor you, I could hear my mother sneering.

_Embry... I got a bad feeling about that cabin..._ Leah ignored my pity party. _I say we just stick it out in the trees..._

_With the werewolves? _Brady gulped. His wolf-head angled upward, to the moon. I half expected him to howl sorrowfully; they had been stuck with an Alpha who didn't know what the fuck to do, and Atka...

Well, Atka's allegiance was to Jacob. I couldn't hear him, I couldn't know what he thought of this situation; everyone else had, like Leah had sneered not an hour ago, been forced to reroute to _my _wavelength.

_We phase and we are vulnerable_. Leah pointed out. She may be Beta, but I wasn't the Alpha that was for sure. Something, in between and less of both.

_Confidence, Embry..._ Leah sighed. _I seriously don't have time to uplift the insecure, if you can understand. We not only have to worry about our survival, but rescuing Charles, Katherine and Angela._

_If they are even alive... _Billy wouldn't let up with the doom and gloom, and for his misery he got his hind leg snapped at by Leah. He jumped a few feet into the air in fright, and landed half over Atka... who was not impressed and whacked him with a huge paw.

His tail was between his leg and he had lodged himself at Seth's side now.

This was not a good look; how were we supposed to fight if half the pack was scared shitless?

_Leah..._

The thought was foreign to our link and we all looked around, hackles raised and teeth bared. Atka hadn't heard it, rising stiffly and sniffing the air. It took a moment to register why it had resounded from Leah's mind, why it was strange and familiar.

_Charles?_ Leah asked tentatively. Half of her wanted to bolt and she didn't care that she didn't know the direction he would be, or that the trees would just send her on a merry-go-round.

But just as the thought had floated to her, it vanished and a cool silence was left.

_Well, he is alive..._ Billy breathed. _That's good._

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Freeing Dominic was simple enough; after all his cell was meant to _contain_ a werewolf and no one would be dumb enough to break into a werewolf cell.

"Your plan is flawed" Dominic looked at me unimpressed. His arms were around his torso, his face glistening with sweat and a mild tremor shook his hand. He looked at Angela and Maria and frowned deeply. "Will you carry them both while dealing with the werewolf?"

It freaked me out how he always referred to the werewolf he turned into as a separate being, unattached to him.

"Your sister said this would wake them up" I held up the dried plant Annabelle had given me.

"Burn it and let them smell its smoke" he instructed.

"Do you have matches?"  
>"You are useless, Charles Black" Dominic snapped and I growled back, a low inhuman rumble that paused his movements. "Scary" there was a ghosting smile on his lips. He hunkered on the hard floor and reached around before finding two thin stones. "But we'll see who growls the scariest in a few hours, eh?"<p>

"Shut up and start a fire"

He hit the stones together over dry grass and pulled twigs over to him, huddling the grass and twigs and blowing lightly "You are going to have to turn into a wolf" he said.

"No... We'll find a way of taking Angela and Maria..."

"You don't get it do you?" Dominic had set a little flame, twirling the plant in it until its withered petals began to smoke. "There will be no 'we' but you and the werewolf! Only an _Alpha_ can convince the werewolf of _anything_..."

"The werewolf is _you_, why can't _you_ just try and control..."  
>"You cannot seriously be this hopeless at comprehending..."<p>

"Believe it or not Dominic but I know a thing or two about having a beast inside you that has a mind of its own..."  
>"What, your <em>drug addiction<em> is so similar to my curse?" he let out a low scathing chortle. "You have a choice in the matter, Mr Black..."

I growled again, this time baring my teeth. He silenced and handed me the plant. I went over to Angela and Maria and fanned the smoke over them.

"The werewolf is not me but we share one common thing..." he explained with less... derision and slower, as though he were talking to a child. I suppose to him, and the way time worked in Malwood, I was but a child. "We trust Jacob Black"

"I am a Black" I said "I am of honour"  
>"But are you the Alpha?" he raised an eyebrow. Angela began to cough, twitching a little. "Are you the Alpha... in your human form when you stand in your human form? There is no telepathy when it comes to werewolves. There is no man in there to negotiate with but a mass of instincts and senses that swirl together. In your wolf form, it may sense your allegiance with Jacob Black. You carry his blood Charles, it will sense that"<br>"I see" the women were both awake now and Dominic and I were facing a dilemma.

He would turn into a werewolf... and he expected _me_ to turn into the wolf. Two creatures that both needed convincing to trust and follow.

And the Alpha, as I remembered it... had been Embry Call.

Embry... Black.

"Embry is Alpha!" I said quickly "Embry... Embry is Jacob's half brother, Embry is my uncle...!"

"Let's pray its enough"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

It spat Emmett out and growled low.

The humans slaughtered each other, the vampires drank their blood and only Carlisle and I understood that Emmett was dead at the demon's feet. It was an odd comprehension for both of us, to know that he would not reattach, to know that he may not be in ashes, that his death was very real as we looked upon him.

It looked at the carnage, a graceful annoyance moving on its hideous face before bounding into the trees and away from the village.

"Ca...r..." I tried, the popping lights of pain desisting only minutely. He was by my side in the moment, raising me to my feet. He ripped the sleeve of his shirt and touched it to my nose, before showing me what he had wiped. Silver... silver had leaked from my nose.

I tried to stand up straight but I felt... exhausted? Exhaustion...? Of course, I had been fighting the compulsion... yes, that was what it had been... compulsion.

I leaned on his shoulder heavily as he held me up effortlessly and we watched as the vampires left virtually every human that had not died in the carnage, empty of blood.

When it was done, they took thirty-three minutes to sober up.

When it was done, it took us all three hours to leave the village as Rosalie wailed for her beloved, a desiccated torrent of misery and heartbreak. We took his body with us, a mercy or an evil by the demon that we could _see_ Emmett would never be with us again, that his pain was frozen on his boyish face; the last emotion he had felt.

Pain and acceptance of his fate.


	15. The Last Night on Earth 2

**RENESME**

I should be used to this but had I ever died? Could what I had gone through ever be considered as _death_? It had felt like a slumber, a long one; my soul wandering a land parched and terrible-evil things lurking in those shadows, dark thoughts from when I had been awake; things I had never dared to voice out.

The tires tore over the road, the driver-a vampire-steady on the wheel despite the vicious speed he pushed the car too. Joham was at my side, decked in arrogance, a cologne so humanly ostentatious mingled with his scent. On my left side was a vampire, ancient and superior; an acquaintance of Joham's so eternally still and stony, I could look past him… but not through him.

Trapped, the dark outside hidden with the vampire treated glass of the car; only the windscreen let through the direction we were heading. A layered darkness was ahead of us, the town wrecked in chaos behind us…

I closed my eyes and the smile that danced on my lips both frightened me and thrilled; Jacob would be standing over that chaos, red-brown fur dancing in the light of the moon, amber eyes vengeful and quick.

Would he look for me in the wreck of chaos? Would he know I had gone to meet death…?

My death would be terrible, oh I knew it now. Savored and decadent; my blood would spill, drip and swirl in the ancient vampire's mouth, in Joham's eyes my crimson would glow.

"Are you anticipating it?" he whispered into my ear, his breath moving through my hair. His voice was deep; novel and seasoned. "Do you know what I want to do to you?"

Rape, Drink and Kill?

"You don't frighten me" I said. He was, once again shocked at my cool; _offended_ by it. His hand went over mine and gripped, rubbing my bones together and pressing relentlessly. _You don't frighten me…_

The thought that seeped through my pores scared him more so, and the images of Malwood and its strength saw him release my hand and frown deeply.

"I thought the world had no more secrets, after you… Renesme" he growled. "I thought I had uncovered the last one with my children. Werewolf communities…!" he spat "Those beasts can _have_ intelligence?" he eyed me with those words playing in the air, a cruel smirk on that mouth, that deathtrap; my demise hidden behind the full lips.

The man in the passenger in front was a werewolf and he made no reaction to Joham's prejudice, instead turning his head sharply to the outside.

"It sounds like there are more werewolves escorting us, Joham" the ancient spoke. "Have some of them moved closer to the road and out of the wilderness?"

Joham looked at a gadget in his hand-an iPhone I realized-and frowned a little.

"No…" he hesitated and his frown got deeper. He was quiet for a moment, listening to the outside; I listened with him.

Certainly, it was quiet but past the quiet and past the sound of the car and its engine, the gravel beneath the tires and the whooshing sound of the car cutting through the air, the sound of the other cars in convoy, the world off of the road, the one in the wilderness…

There was running, swift heavy four legged footfalls almost indiscernible.

"GPS of their collars…" Joham's uneasiness increased and he looked outside but even his vampire sight was no match for the windows he had had treated against peering intruders. "Some of them are unresponsive" he continued "The Company?"

A chill ran down my spine; what was worse than Joham? Lorraine… that cylindrical tank I had drowned in a thousand times over until I was so used to having the pain and suffocation of water in my lungs. Of course I was unaware at the time of the attack on Larry's little crappy town that Lorraine's beloved God's People aka The Company were included on the attack; Joham had used their attack as a cover to capture me. It had been a difficult plan on his part; if Lorraine had found him out she may have lost interest in capturing werewolves and shapeshifters.

Had she been after Malwood, I wondered, but obviously failed to enter the impenetrable town. Could she know I had entered it? The chill turned into a cold sweat; I didn't want Lorraine to _want_ me…

I didn't want The Company to have me…

"Your heart beat…" Joham murmured "Little humming bird, do you not feel safe?"

I turned to face him, my eyes wide and mouth open; about to tell him that we should give up on the city filled with humans and run, scorch the earth with our feet and _flee_ the _humans_; did he not feel the danger as I did, so strong and overpowering…

Instinctual…

I was about to tell him but his hand was over mine ( I was uncontrolled and not bothering to be controlled), his eyes musing over what they saw from my mind and before he could tell me of the _foolishness_ of fearing humans more than I feared _him_… there was a deafening howl-like-roar in the night and screeching tires, a hot bang up ahead…

And the car we were in, turned over and we tumbled inside of it.

As the car was catapulted into the night, we all began to escape; moving at a speed past human understanding through the space inside; I scrambled over the ancient but he only smiled and held my waist before opening the door and skipping out of the still flying car with me in his steel arm-Joham exiting through the same door that we got out from.

We were on the ground in the same milliseconds as the car crashed onto the road, rebounded and pranged into another SUV. The unturned werewolf would be dead but the vampire driver had no need to worry-if he had predicted that the car would not burst into flames.

Indeed, the vampire driver got out with his blazer torn up but unhurt. His red eyes seemed amused and lips turned up into an excited grin; bloodlust.

"What is this?" the ancient hadn't released me.

"Humans" Joham said dryly, rolling his eyes. His fear of The Company was well hidden but that fear was still unlearnt to the true power of the human's hate for us. Around us there was chaos, fighting and howls.

Against the humans, I had a better chance of escape; their weapons were the _opposite _of heat signatured. They were drawn to full vampires; all I had to do was not make any hasty movements… all I had to do was remain still…

The darkness was strange; overpowering and I realized we all couldn't peer through it. It felt as though it shrouded us, enveloped us; the chaos was around us, growls and marble limps tearing and being crunched…

"Have your werewolves turned against you!?" I hit Joham's arm hard, my panic growing. Of all the deaths, being werewolf grub was not appealing!

"Shut up!" he whacked me across the face and I went flying a few feet, landing with a thud on the ground. The slap hurt more than the fall, it stung sharply on my face and were a human would have been scraped raw and bones broken, I sustained a mild ache on my thigh were most of the impact had been absorbed.

"Don't move… Don't…" he was trying to negotiate with his ancient friend but the vampire was not having it; appalled by the situation that saw him being at the mercy of the impenetrable dark blanket. He ran, and as soon as he was out into the smokey obscurity… we heard his shriek and a series of sharp animated snarls.

I imagined him being torn in opposite directions by scrawny large rats. I shuddered, rising from the road and glaring at Joham.

"Have your death wish then!" I tilted my neck obscenely "Kill me, drink and be done with your vengeance!"

Free me from this nightmare.

"No…" his frowning stopped and lips wavered into a knowing smile. His eyes looked past me, through me and ahead… at something, but I was too busy concentrating on my fear. "Your use is never ending it seems, Renesme… and if we die, we do so together"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**CHARLES**

The run was long.

Angela's grip around my neck was too tight, her human strength annoying but bearable. I held Maria in my arms; her eyes closed the entire run, only opening when I had slowed to a steady jog. I was tired, their weight becoming more noticeable with each step, my throat itching and heart pounding.

I tried to remember the weaknesses from my human life, were so many things were impossible; not running, not carrying and not night vision.

"Right!" I huffed, lowering Maria while Angela scrambled off of my back. I moved away from them, coughing a little as my throat burned and sweat trickled over my skin. I braced myself on my knees and my sides clenched, muscles aching.

"Are you… er, okay?" Angela touched my back and I raised my hand for her not to. My vision was blurring once I was at standstill, heart pumping and throat…

I hope Dominic wasn't seriously expecting me to phase; the thirst was getting stronger, I needed to recuperate after using my telepathy so powerfully.

I looked back to the way we came, peering into the darkness but my vision blurred to only a short distance; a very human distance. The memory of what it was to be humanly weak, and as a supernatural… running out of energy and going human _was_ weak.

"Charles?" Angela tried again. "I remember how it was you know, back in my apartment.. when…"  
>"I remember too" I shuddered at the reminder that she had seen me in that hungered pathetic state. I stood up and stretched, ignoring the heat from my muscles. "I am okay" I said tersely. "But we will have to walk…"<p>

I took out the little map, touching the vial around my neck. "It can't be too far"

It wasn't that far indeed, and soon we had moved through the trees easily (thanks to Annabelle's blood) and the cabin lay through an unmaintained clearing, slightly worn but large.

"Is it safe?" Maria asked. She stood too close to me, her scent sweet. It didn't help my throat and I was all too aware that their heart beats beat in a distant way, a dull thud. I hadn't stopped sweating and my left hand had a slight shake. If it wasn't safe, I was most certainly not in any position to deal with the danger, human or otherwise.

"Only one way to find out" I sighed, exiting the heavy shadows of the trees. The moon was peaking and I imagined that the head start Dominic had given us may count for nothing soon, if we were stranded here with the cabin-I wished it were made of concrete instead of wood.

The moonlight splayed over the front side of the cabin and I surveyed the ground there; no paw prints, wolf or polar bear. Angela and Maria kept moving so close to me that I constantly had to swerve to keep from bumping into them. They were afraid, rightly so; werewolves were not the Volturi. They were worse, unhinged in such an animal way and in the two women's eyes I knew the escape from the Hive had left a good lesson on beasts.

"Let's go inside" Angela breathed and Maria nodded her agreement hastily. I looked up at the cabin, uncertain and tried to strain my ears to hear what could be inside. I heard something but it was muffled, my head pounding a little. Would I try for telepathy? Would that not leave me shaking and useless?

"I sense something inside, something dangerous" I whispered and Maria looked at me hard, unimpressed with my increasing inadequacy. "Look, it's not easy for me. I am not half vampire, part human or a quarter vampire, part human. I am part Shapeshifter; that's two supernatural genes fighting for dominance. I used my telepath back at the Manor, and I used a great deal of strength to get into Annabelle's mind. I pulled too much on my vampire side. It should always be balanced…"

I was no longer talking to her, I was talking to myself but she listened regardless with a frown on her face for a moment…

"I tipped the scale and I have to find that balance before I'm twisted" I sighed "If I'm not balanced I am afraid, I may not be much help. I may end up a danger… I may…"

She turned away rudely and made for the cabin with a contemptuous step but was stopped mid-stomp when a low half moan and half growl came from it. "Move!" I hissed, jumping quickly forward and pulling her back, backing all of us away. Just as I returned to the shadows of the trees, I looked across the front of the cabin to the other side of the woods and was met by numerous pairs of amber eyes, blinking through the darkness of the trees.

"Look" I cocked my head to the opposite side of where we stood and Angela readjusted her broken glasses, squinting. "Do you see that..?"

"Yeah…" Angela didn't get a chance to finish when a giant grey wolf emerged into the opening, turning almost silver under the moonlight and taking a careful step forward. In a second, Leah had phased, a deity under the silver light and was running across towards us and I met her mid run, securing her in my arms.

"Charles!" she breathed and the sound of her voice made me shake lightly, hope that had been thinning to nothing erupting into bliss and relief. I held her, hugging her as tight as I could; behind her, Seth emerged, his wolf eyes scanning past us to the two forms behind us.

Katherine was not with us, he saw. He let out a low moan, half animal and too intelligent; he was distraught.

I released Leah, quickly removing my shirt and draping it over her. It satisfied me that I was much taller than she was, and the shirt covered just enough.

"I don't care" she scoffed. I smiled a little and while she was still high from our reunion to worry about 'us', I kissed her fully on the mouth.

She froze, her eyes wide.

"I do" I told her and she remained silent as my fingers carefully moved over the front of her body, buttoning up the shirt. When I finished, her hand moved to my head, pressing on my forehead. I captured her hand and lowered it, smiling but then I felt the teeth under my lips. Through the dark, Leah would be able to see. The wolves would be able to see.

I had to look away, my throat hurting and her scent and heart suddenly a torture.

"How did you get here?" she asked softly. The pack had not emerged, lingering in the woods and the sounds from the cabin momentarily forgotten.

"He carried us" Angela spoke up. "He freed Dominic, he freed us… and here we are"

"Why are you…?" she didn't finish her question, her eyebrows knitting. "Did you… phase?" she asked finally.

"No, of course not" her question annoyed me, her concern too and my voice came out frosty, the word so cold she recoiled a little. I was not a boy…

I released her hand, angry beyond my own comprehension and walked past her, past a miserable Seth and towards the woods were Embry, the current Alpha stood.

"Embry, you are Alpha?" I knew the answer of course, it was obvious but the presumption would have its own consequences. He growled low, stepping into the light. His wolf eyes were wary, flicking from me to the cabin and back.

"Dominic is on his way" I said slowly and the rest of the wolves tensed visibly; as much as Dominic was an unofficial member of the pack, his werewolf self was a fiend without Jacob there. "He will need you as Alpha"

"And Katherine?" Leah asked for Seth, who remained lying in the clearing silent.

"Katherine… Annabelle said that if I found you, I would find her" I said, closing my eyes.

"She isn't here!" Leah hissed, spinning around.

"I think…" Maria muttered, pointing at the cabin "It might be her in there"

"Has anyone been in the cabin?" Angela asked and Leah stilled, staring at the cabin with understanding and fear; we had a werewolf in our midst.

I looked at Embry once more and implored him to understand, uttering the words that all had thought before "If she is there, and Dominic arrives… they will both need an Alpha if we are to get out of these woods. An Alpha they can trust and remember, sense… in the animal context, Embry… an Alpha that is a _Black_"

Leah stiffened while the woods resounded with a slighted silence suddenly. I looked at Leah, my stomach churning and heart pounding too loud for me to hear her say "What?!" but I saw the words move over her lips.

As she moved to me, I dropped to my hands and knees and hurled. In the cabin, the sound of crashing and breaking began, loud growls erupting while in the distance, a series of droning howls were heard.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Nahuel did not think of himself as evil. There could be no wrong in his every action all the way to succeeding in taking Renesme from Jacob Black. He was simply taking what had been denied to him in all his decades… a mate. They were both half vampire, it was common sense that she was made for _him._

The only evil he had committed may have been against Huilen, possibly the death of his mother too. Those, had been the two women and only individuals in his eternity that he knew, without a doubt, he probably would have done anything for.

Nahuel knew nothing of love; the love between man and woman, that is. What he had shared with Renesme had been infantile and unlearnt, for both of them. He knew that now, and in that knowledge he felt ashamed; not for what had transpired between Renesme Cullen and him, but in that he had never taken the opportunity to know about this kind of love for himself before… be damned being the only male half vampire.

He wasn't sure why it bothered him now, discovering that he didn't know how to truly be _in _love but the prospect of a true death had calmed him somewhat. He wondered if it was this that had rid him of his sister's gift of persuasion too.

His left side hurt badly and was healing terribly slow. The Guard on his left wore a smile of satisfaction every time Nahuel cringed when he was forced to move, when he was forced to bow before the Holy Trio of Aro, Caius and Marcus-his broken ribs threatening to tear out of his sides and his eyes watering with the pain.

In all his eternity, in this moment before these powerful vampires, Nahuel felt as though he had been alive for too long but had never lived a day in his life.

"This will be your fourth interrogation?" Aro moved from his throne in the middle with such refined grace. Nahuel's eyes followed him as he fleeted left of the hall in a second, looking up at a large painting hung on the wall there before appearing before him, the painting in his hand-too large, the frame obviously solid gold. He rested the painting before Nahuel, it was much taller than Aro.

"I told you…"Nahuel didn't care for what he was being shown, his right eye was swollen and lip hurt when he talked. "I told you, your Lords… my sister can remove memories… I know not of Joham's current intentions and my certainty on his reaction to my kidnapping…"

"Kidnapping?" Aro laughed, momentarily releasing the painting to clap in glee. It didn't have a chance to fall back when a Guard Nahuel hadn't sensed, appeared and held it upright before them. "You are a guest…"

"Then why beat me when I fail to answer you and you fail to find the memories to the questions you ask?" Nahuel was going for stoic but his voice conveyed an infantile sulkiness that further amused Aro.

"You are badly behaved" Aro touched Nahuel's hair thoughtfully and Nahuel tried to shake the hand of but the motion of his head sent a twinge of pain down his spine. "Very badly behaved"

His hair was gripped too tightly and head yanked back cruelly so he was momentarily looking up at the opulent ceiling before his head was redirected to the painting. "What do you see?!" Aro demanded, the hiss by Nahuel's ear terrifying him more than Jane's gaze had during his capture.

"You!" Nahuel cried "And… Carlisle!"

"Time and era?" Aro demanded again but Nahuel knew not their world, and could only manage to whimper in response. "You are nothing but a barbarian in a suit!" Aro released his hair and Nahuel immediately fell to the ground, wincing when he reached the cool marble.

"What you see… Nahuel, is a plan that has been set into motion for years. Half of that plan, maybe even decades were spent refining and plotting…and the catastrophe that has befallen our world has been a blessing in its own. Nahuel, you are our everlasting guest and be glad to be given a chance to witness our triumphs"

"I have received word from Jane of Carlisle Cullen's retrieval" Aro said. "He will be arriving in Volterra soon…"  
>"Brother…" Marcus began, raising his robes as he got up. Nahuel braved to look at the most silent of the trio, his eyes scanning from Caius own cold but calculated eyes to the taller dark haired ancient.<p>

He had never seen the vampire Marcus look so… alive.

"Quiet down Marcus, good heavens!" Aro raised his hand, annoyed. Marcus silenced but never sat back down, glaring at Nahuel till Nahuel had to look away. "The Cullen Coven will arrive in time for the transition into a new order, new laws and the beginning of a new army" Aro said this in a dreamy way, like a child musing on a Christmas wish.

When he looked at Nahuel, down at him on the floor with eyes riddled with disgust "The purpose of half breeds has been seen"

"What?" Nahuel hefted himself to a crouching position, his side hurt less-it had probably healed somewhat.

"Have him treated, he truly has no information on Joham" Aro ignored Nahuel and the Guard by Nahuel's side lifted him up easily before dragging him out. "Treat him more gently, I dare say!" Aro called but the doors had been shut, and Nahuel's fate sealed.

"Brother…!" Marcus insisted. "You swore to me that when this day came, I would be free!"

"Free him already!" Caius hissed "As much as his new vigor is a pleasant surprise from the human's being a _genuine_ threat to us… It is becoming a touch aggravating"

"This magnificent strategy of ours is rickety Caius" Aro sighed, returning to his seat. "We have the half vampire, we have his venom and semen… we have Carlisle; we may very well have the army to turn this _awful_ situation around, but who is willing to wait for that army to mature after five years? Or even so, turning vampires will prove useless with these human weapons designed to follow pure vampire signatures? Are we banking on an attack in five years? How do we prepare…"

"The matter at hand is ridding us both of Marcus whining!" Caius growled "I am the Commander in this, you keep your pretty head out of 'battle strategies' and concentrate on securing a new structure of rule"

"Everything is so precarious if we do not manage to manipulate…" Aro paused, smiling to himself "I mean, _convince_ the Cullens to see that this is the only way. If they fight against us acquiring Carlisle, any deaths from their coven would be a loss to us…"

"…Carlisle's value is immeasurable" Aro mused "It seems he has only refined his worth since that first time I asked him to be one of our brethren" both Aro and Caius eyes swiveled to the painting that had been returned to its position. "We must have him. He has unwittingly infiltrated the humans, he has knowledge on hybrids that none other has and when he is with us…"

"They will be with us too" Caius agreed. He retrieved the ancient lighter and placed it carefully in Aro's hands. Marcus watched the action, standing before them with a smile on his face and anticipation in his eyes.

"I do hope he will make you all prouder than I ever could" Marcus whispered as Aro rose, walking steadily towards him. "But brothers, the question remains…" the lighter was flicked open before him, the bright flame warm on his face even from the distance.

"Yes brother" Caius watched with queasy curiosity, anticipating the burning, the sweet smell and death of Marcus with an odd sentiment that was not sadness, something nearing relief and sympathy to Marcus own misery in their world.

"Can there really be two kings in your new order?" Marcus began but Aro did not await for his brother to finish with the warning (he himself had seen it in his mind, a few days ago when he had held Marcus hand and discussed the terms of his death and their connection to the retrieval of Carlisle Cullen). The flame was over his head, and in a moment one of the eldest vampires died to make way for Carlisle Cullen.

"The Cullens have been ordered to return to us" he flicked the lighter shut and watched the smoldering twitching corpse in fear, Marcus prediction of a war amongst vampires in the midst of their species own peril, ringing in his mind.

"You won their compliance how?" Caius raised an eyebrow. They would worry of Marcus underlings later, the news of their Master's death would be expected but unwanted.

"Emmett Cullen has died" Aro sung mournfully "Oh, the desolation of their strength… they will need to lean on each other for that is all they have, and us of course"

"Flawless" Caius breathed. "They can only ever have us in this new hellish world"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

I had never seen how wolves pledged their allegiance to an Alpha, the non-supernatural variety of wolves, the ones that were born from nature.

Angela and Maria stood very close to me as usual, deep in the woods but not far off from clearing that encircled the cabin. We were all afraid to move away from the pack by now, Leah informing us that there were droning howls in the distance, numerous ones and although she assured us that they were far off and it was just that wolves could hear _that _far…

I felt like at any moment, a werewolf would be behind me.

My gums hurt, the shudders a little more insistent; the urge to phase when weak or threatened.

"You're drenched" Maria said. Her olive face seemed paler in the moonlight, her dark eyes cold and curly hair moving lightly. She was young, as I was but she had not seen the world as I had; she had an entitlement about her, to her survival. As though it was owed to her…

Nahuel's daughter… it didn't take a scientist to figure that one out, as much as I knew Renesme had added it up fast. I wondered if she would stay with our pack, was she part of it in fact; she had gotten cozy with Jacob hadn't she?

But in the face of family, nothing could be said and if Nahuel turned up around the corner… she could oblige him; daddy issues… I knew about those.

I didn't reply her, concentrating on the formation of the wolves outside. There definitely was a werewolf in the cabin but there was no saying if it was Katherine and if it was, would she accept Embry's dominance.

In a second, the werewolf had burst out of the house through the front window and was surrounded. It snapped at the wolves who inched it into a small circle. Embry stepped forward but the wolves obscured the sight of the werewolf but by the dying snarls and growls, I figured we had been right.

"It must be Katherine" Maria had more balls on the matter than a shaking Angela, nodding her head in satisfaction. "She must have accepted Embry"

"No!" I pointed as the wolves moved away slowly. Yes, Embry stood tall, but the werewolf lay still on the ground… in front of Seth.

"Is it not Katherine?" Maria frowned. She couldn't tell the wolves apart as I could; except for Jacob, she couldn't.

"It is…" I sighed "What I mean is, she recognized Seth. There was no need for an Alpha with Katherine… she recognized Seth!"

This warmed me up inside for a moment and I forgot all about the fact that Dominic had no imprinter in the pack that would see him remain docile and understanding. Seth touched his head to hers and the werewolf responded with a semi-vicious snap back at him. He moved two steps away at that, and the werewolf rose, snarling around at the other wolves who snarled back at it in annoyance. Its head rose and it looked up; it looked straight across… and straight to us.

"Shit" I breathed but it had no chance to act on whatever wild thoughts it was having at our delectable forms in the woods; two quarter vampire snacks on the go. Seth snapped back at Katherine who shook her long head and snarled at him, Embry dominating the situation with a carefully targeted nip to her right leg.

All of that was nothing in the face of Leah's raised hackles and bared teeth though. Leah turned slowly, untrusting of Katherine and skipped over to us, eyeing me indicatively. I took off my shirt and held it out as she faced.

"Dominic is on his way…" she gasped, only holding the shirt to her front. "Get into the cabin and head to the safest place inside… he sounds unreasonable and may not be as thrilled to find just us here, instead of Jacob"

We did as she instructed, choosing the basement as our 'safe' place and listened to deafening growls and snarls the moment Dominic arrived. It lasted an eternity, and in thirty minutes a naked Billy Black came to retrieve us with a scary looking gash across his chest.

"It worked!" he breathed, moving back up to fast "But they must know you are missing…! We feel a bunch of werewolves were tailing Dom…"

Leah was laying on the ground, waiting for me when we got up. Her muzzle was slashed up pretty good too but she seemed high on the adrenaline, her eyes shining excitedly. I couldn't complain or feign ignorance in the heat of things; I walked up to her and prepared to get on her back.

"You'll need to lead Leah" I told her and she nodded her head stiffly once. "Hold on…" I untied the string that held the vial of Annabelle's blood and looked at her, then back at the string that would never go around her wolf neck. I ran back into the house and pulled down the draping, pulling out the string in them.

I used this to secure the vial around her neck, before getting onto her back.

As soon as I was on her back she rose up and I felt nauseated but managed not to hurl… Annabelle's warning rung in my mind; I would not be able to go far from Malwood without her.

"You two… Atka's back!" Billy instructed Maria and Angela, already shimmering in the air.

The run through the woods only lasted a few minutes, before we were tailed by snapping werewolves. They were no match for our determination to be rid of Malwood and they had no chance of catching us. They chased us for hours-it was _hours_ and at Leah and the wolves speed, the ground covered was immense… the true size of Malwood now becoming more apparent. The sun seemed to be coming up through the trees, but the moment we pushed out of the woods and into the world that held our reality, it was nighttime again.

We didn't stop running even when we had escaped and I dared to look back, a dozen red eyes blinking through the trees. The werewolves did not chase us past the wall of their trees and the trees themselves seemed eager for us to be gone. We were free, a few inches free, then a mile… and then Embry shuddered to a standstill, collapsing on the ground.

We stopped, back tracking warily to him. I jumped off of Leah and went to him, he was already phasing back and by the time I got to him he was a sweating man in the dirt.

"Embry?" I breathed, Leah rushing in human form to him. "No Lee, you have to turn back!" I instructed, looking ahead of us. I couldn't see the werewolves in the tree any longer but maybe she could, and seeing the dark shadow of treetops ahead was enough to keep my adrenaline pumping.

"Embry, talk to me!" I hissed.

"Argh!" he crunched in, curling into a ball. The wolves formed a loose circle around us, alternating between looking at Embry in severe concern and up ahead at the foe that had chased us for half the night.

I tried to think and failed, desperation was heavy in my mind. We couldn't lose Embry; not because of Dominic; who was at the outer rim of the circle and twitching; almost as though he was awaiting Embry's demise so he could unleash horror on us.

Embry was always there, Embry was part of the pack, Embry was Jacob's friend, his brother and my uncle.

"Maybe he has been poisoned…!" Angela cried rushing towards us.

"Annabelle's blood?" I breathed. The curse she had put on me hadn't taken effect yet and I wondered if I gave him the blood, and the curse did eventually raise its head; what would happen?

What way wasn't dying in any case? Immortality was so subjective…

I took the vial from Leah and opened it, pressing it to Embry's ashen lips. It took a few seconds for the blood to move past his lips and for him to register that I was trying to help him. He gulped and puckered but the shuddering didn't stop; only increasing.

Soon, he was too hot to touch past his wolf temperature. Soon, he was shivering and shimmering as though he was about to phase and Angela and I quickly backed away…

In a brightness that was eerie, a light consumed him until he was indiscernible and when that brightness calmed… and he was back to our visibility, he was gasping for breath but no longer shivering and lying next to him naked… was Annabelle.

"I have officially seen it all" Angela said stoically "She is the terminator…"

"Wh…?" Embry rose from the ground, unabashedly naked and looked at a curled Annabelle, who had her knees tucked to her chest and arms wrapped over them self consciously.

I unwillingly gave her the shirt that I had decided would be for Leah's convenience. She grabbed it and hastily put it on, rising from the ground. It was much too big for her I noticed and looked like a tent.

"I told you that you wouldn't be able to leave Malwood without me" she seemed pleased with herself, her eyes narrowed. She got up and crossed her arms, facing me.

I smiled at her, as it all made sense to me now; Embry Call was a Black, and I was part vampire… certain things were immune to me.

"_He_ couldn't leave here without you, Annabelle" I pointed at Embry, who had turned green before hurling on the ground, spitting out odd chunks I suspected to be a half digested animal he may have eaten in wolf form. "I wasn't the only Black in Malwood, you see"

She paled and behind me Leah let out a questioning mewl.

Embry had missed the entire exchange and Angela hadn't understood any of it. I tapped Embry's soldier and he raised his hand "Hasn't happend in a while…" he said gruffly "I think my system was rejecting the blood… puked that out"

"Er yeah" I said "Care to escort the lovely Ms Erikson on your back? I think I saw a Motel when we first came to Malwood…"

"Larry's Motel!" Embry grinned "Yeah… had the lovely ladies outside it. Think I need a bed warmer after that" he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder; I wasn't sure whether he was pointing at the puke or back at Malwood, but both Angela and Annabelle frowned at his words.

He made a light little hop into the air and shimmered into a giant wolf, before allowing Annabelle to awkwardly scamper on his back.

"You _are_ going to explain!?" Angela hissed.

"You'll find out, I promise that" I sighed, glancing back into the darkness and purging Malwood goodbye with all its secrets and powers.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**LEAH**

_Leah?_

Jacob's penetrative thought stopped us all in our tracks. Ahead of us, there was smoke billowing into the night. The motel that had been at the side of the road was rubble, heat still radiating from it; the violence had only just passed, whatever it had been.

_Where are you!_ Embry demanded. He had stopped us from entering the town further, sniffing the air; werewolves, vampires and something _other._ It smelt like shapeshifters, almost… but too human. Strange.

Blood, plenty of it hit the air wild; burnt flesh and rust.

Jacob let us see through his eyes, were he stood; towering over a dying man in the mass of wreckage, a car park…

I didn't wait for Embry's order, already shrugging of his Alpha title with ease and headed right into the town. Embry followed in silence, we all were silent and looked at the uncouth grave yard, our noses scrunched up. We found Jacob and Charles, who had no way of knowing where we were heading and for what purpose, skipped off of my back before I could lower him and landed awkwardly to the ground, running towards Jacob.

Jacob did not phase back simply allowing Charles to touch his neck.

"The vampire had been here… before. Asking about your girl" the dying man rasped. In Jacob's mind, there was betrayal; the man, Larry it turned out, had betrayed Jacob… to Joham. "I… you really were…" Larry tried to apologize but the words never left his throat, ending with his last breath.

Jacob paced a few feet before rounding a massive demolished wall, before calming and phasing.

"Joham has your mother" he said stonily "I am going to get her right now… and kill him"

"I'm coming… I have… what?" Charles had no time to understand anything, fleeting between despair and misery, clutching his hair. I looked at Jacob, thinking uselessly to him that his words were irrational.

"Fine" Jacob ignored me and phased. He lowered and Charles scrambled onto _his _back and I watched hopelessly.

_Jake…!_

_Shut it Leah_. He was cool, his mind a baricade. _You don't understand._

Charles was weak, he was not strong enough at all for this and he wanted to charge in with him into hell. I couldn't win this and it hurt, so badly.

_At least let Angela drive herself and Maria behind us! _I tried for time, he saw it but he still cared about Angela enough in his blind blistering rage.

I phased and instructed Angela, who tried to make sense of the new chaos we were in but I had no time. Jacob had galloped off with my Charles and half the pack, only Seth and a restless Katherine waiting up for me.

Xx~xx~xX

It was clever of them to head for the city; hide in the humans… even Lorraine would have to abide by certain laws. Any violence would wield too much collateral and the world could not know of the war just yet… could it?

We were more coordinated than we had ever been; our unity was strange, an evolvement of our existence up to this point; the werewolves at the outer flanks, Jacob at the head and Embry and I on either side of him, Atka trailing somewhere in the middle between us, the strongest and most experienced and the rest of the pack.

_LEFT_, Jacob ordered. Embry took the left side of the pack to the other side of the road-Annabelle still on his back, had insisted she would be of use (her bond with Renesme seemed to have been stronger than anticipated)-heading straight into the wilderness before heading up and out after the werewolf scent. Before Jacob could give me the instruction, I dived right and my team came with me leaving Atka with Jacob, Charles gripping the fur on Jacob's back.

The convoy was nowhere in sight because the idea wasn't to catch up to it immediately. We had to give it distance; after all, these were vampires.

_Vampires…_ Billy sighed, _Piece of Cake after Malwood…_

_We just can't catch a break… _Collin moaned.

We dealt with the werewolves swiftly and as inconspicuously as possible; they were luckily far off from the road side and the noise was minimal. But they were many and Jacob was impatient, immediately attacking a lagging SUV while Atka flipped over the middle car, Embry diving into the swerving cars. Annabelle raised her hands carelessly from Embry's back and Charles, Embry, Atka and Jacob disappeared into a shroud of darkness.

I was at a loss, unsure to jump in and locked out of Jacob's mind.

_Embry?_

_Kill the ones that get out! _Embry yelled. _Do not get in… get any that survive, there are to be no survivors!_

I had to obey, Charles was off of Jacob's back, I could see that through Embry's eyes. Over the dark veil, all I had were Embry's eyes.

Jacob stood far off, behind Renesme and stared at a dark vampire with such ferocity I felt sorry for the vampire; frightened of what would befall him in Jacob's jaws. I couldn't see Charles, Embry wasn't concerned with Charles and only anticipating the vampire; obviously old by his scent, obviously strong… it grabbed Renesme and leered at Jacob but Jacob didn't stop moving toward it.

It was asking questions, quick and too fast; Embry wasn't concerned, not listening and only following instinct. The stalking was too slow for him, he wanted to attack…

That was when I saw Charles, in the corner of Embry's vision. Either unnoticed by the vampire or ignored as a non-threatening human, collateral. Renesme turned to him, the vampire then noticed him too.

Embry attacked, it released Renesme and whacked him across the muscle. Jacob rounded, going after him but he was kicked out of the air, rebounding right out of the darkness and away. I tried to enter but the cloud was so cold, thick; pushing me out. I pushed forward and it pushed against the motion.

Renesme and Embry stalked him but the vampire realized something; it looked at Charles and caught him in its arms.

I howled and pushed through the darkness, it was cold and eerie; repelling. I got in, stumbling and whined to Embry, called to Jacob telepathically but none of that mattered.

It had Charles in its arms.

And Charles couldn't have looked happier.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~Xx

**CHARLES**

His strength meant nothing to

The instinct that came from being the strange creature that I was, was attuned to the fact that he had me; that I had him; that I could stave off the weakness, rid myself of it. He hadn't realized that the shouts weren't for my life yet, that the wolves' growls and snarls weren't threats…

My eyes pulsed and the last remnants of strength in me reared up with force; his strength meant nothing to me and as he held me, I turned and he was suddenly scared; the fear was so raw and unfamiliar in his ancient eyes.

My gums hurt and this time I let the pain flow, the itching unbearable; I pulled my lips away and he gasped, too shocked by what he had caught in his arms to release me.

I felt it in his veins; I tasted it on my tongue.

Sweet saccharine sin; purified poison pouring from his veins, spilling and staining, skin ripped and never repairable. The pain his grip caused faded to the dark abandon of my instincts; it faded with cries and howls; plea's for me to desist and refrain.

_Come back to me_, my mind was open and I heard Leah's cry. She had attacked Joham and I and was flung over, I was unsure if it had been me or Joham. Didn't they all understand? I was the only true immortal when I defied the light and drank the sin. His strength meant nothing to me in the presence of the pleasure I felt with his refined venom filling me up. I fed hard, the hunger overwhelming; his strength meant nothing to me…

For it was now _mine_.

I tilted his head roughly and felt the strange bones of his vampire make up creak…

And only when I had had my fill, the silver dripping from my chin and head pounding with power… did I stop.

"Charles?" Renesme came into my vision, fusing out of the vivid colors I could now see. The smoke cage was lifted and they all watched me.

"I'm fine" I said but my voice wasn't mine. I frowned at this, at the beauty in her I could see now. This was different from before, with Jane's blood; Joham was older, I could taste it… but I was somewhat prepared.

It did not sweep me and take me away like before.

"Charles" my mother repeated and I ran my tongue over my teeth, feeling my overly prominent incisors, the sharper teeth that pushed out. I closed my eyes and thought to calm my heart, pull back from the demon wolf; away from the urge to walk the line between man and wolf…

I just needed to get my teeth back, to hear less, no humming thoughts and vivid colours…

_Charles come back to me…_Leah whispered. The teeth were gone, I could hear less but a thousand times more clearly than an hour ago and when I opened my eyes, they were all staring at me. The stillness scared me…

"It's over Charles" Renesme said.

"Yes" I agreed gruffly.

"So… let his head go" Renesme pointed at my hand and I followed her finger's indication, and only then did I feel the hair I gripped.

I turned Joham's head to face me and met his dulling eyes. He looked at me with such feebleness and tried to twist his paper face into an emotion but failed.

His body lay a few feet from me, twitching weakly. It had no strength; I had drained it all.

"We keep his head" Renesme said "Aro has wanted him for a long time. This may help us"

I remained silent, trying to close in on myself.

_Come back to me…_ I could hear the echo of Leah's voice but I wouldn't dare look at her.

Xx~xx~xX

X

x

**Author's Note:**

**Fast paced, I know… lol. I hope you all enjoyed. **


	16. Allegiance

It was raining and she liked it.

She had loved the sun in her 'youth', the juvenile stages of being a vampire. She had loved the sun when she was human too, and when she was turned that same love had carried through. It had intensified when she saw how wonderful her skin looked under the rays of the sun, how unimaginably beautiful she would become dancing in sunshine, spinning in light…

But when that was all over; when she was done twirling like the princess she was in the sunlight and its sunshine and sunrays, she would be hidden.

The sun meant she couldn't show the world her beauty and only when it was away, could she come out and play. She could come out and showoff…

"There is nothing wrong with smiling" Edward's voice cut through the quick turmoil her vampire mind went into when the smile had graced her lips, the thought that she was always such a show off… and the pain that she was wrecked with misery but somehow, smiling…

His hand was in hers, squeezing and she gulped the cry down, her eyes flicking to the far end of the sparse gathering to Alice. Alice's eyes were darkest, Rosalie was sure of that. The circles around them intensely lavender, her lips drawn down; no one had seen this coming, and it hurt because _she_ was _psychic_.

Rosalie squeezed Edward's hand back, looked up at him and smiled a little. He returned her smile with his own sad one and her heart stung; she was not the only one who had lost him.

It was a funeral, a wet one and the priest-a catholic one, she noted-was unimpressed with the weather but wholly engrossed in the gathering of eternally beautiful damnations. The casket was smooth and black, with an emblem of a bear on its broad lid. Edward and Jasper had gone about having it made, treating it themselves; it was near impossible to be broken into by curious humans if the world were to change in the times, a century from now maybe and everything would be once again left to the archaeologists…

But as Rosalie had learnt, humans were determined creatures; more so than any other, and anything that should clearly be left alone… would be pried open till their fingers bled, no matter the consequence.

She wondered if the priest thought it strange to be called to a funeral on an estate like this, a funeral in a garden, a grave beneath a splendid tree. The tree was beautiful, she thought, looking up at it. It wasn't as tall as the ones in Forks, or as strong; it wasn't a slender thing either. It had pretty flowers sprinkled in its bushy branches and looked young.

Edward's hand still held her own and she felt as though _they_ thought she were a child now, like how her father had treated her-her human father.

How all men in her time had treated her; a delicate doll, a possession, an ornament… a toy.

Emmett had managed to be both so annoyingly engrossed in her 'delicateness' and yet appreciative of the fact that she liked and _could _wrestle…

She was smiling again, and with it came the misery; was she supposed to live this way all her life? Misery and happiness fused in one? Was she expected to live, she wondered….? Was the horror not too much for all of them? Could they not just stand together, join hands around his casket and set a fire so beautiful and warm… their ashes a circle around Emmett, protecting his benevolent love…

"No such thoughts" Edward said quickly, a gentle reproach. The casket was being lowered and she was still straining her hearing to hear the movement of limbs, maybe his voice? He may reattach, he could… he _should_…?

If they had not been rushed and bullied, they could have had a chance to find out why he was… so… terribly…. _Gone, _and yet still with them.

She glared and Jane as though it were her who had caused this, made Emmett this way; for the word dead, death and died scared her more than broken. He was broken.

And when it was all over, they would come back and fix him.

Or maybe she could stay behind and tend to the garden, tend to his flowers and watch the tree grow…

"Rose, dangerous thoughts" he was in her mind and it grated her. She wanted the misery and no logic; Edward was _all_ about _Logic_.

Edward, knew Emmett inside and out; Emmett was not about self-pity and standing around like a statue. That was Edward's forte…

"Exactly" he said miserably. She wondered if she had hurt his feelings for a moment, about to apologize but then, Carlisle came into view, still too far away and black shirt and pants soaked. His hair was pushed back and looked very dark, skin so white and eyes dark.

Yes, Carlisle's eyes were truthfully the darkest.

The priest was facing the gathering, speaking to them, enthralled by them. He didn't see Carlisle Cullen's approach, as ghostly as it had been. Carlisle stood beside the priest and only then, did the only human at the gathering start.

"My!" the old priest jumped, mesmerized and scared.

She felt Edward's hand tighten around hers, she saw the way Jasper tensed, the odd fear in Jane's eyes looking up at Carlisle. She looked at him too, closely as they all did; as tensed as they all did because Carlisle Cullen was not himself.

_Or maybe, he is_… a voice inside of her said. Her own voice but it was a strange thought to have; they all had good and they all had evil, and most normal people walked in the grey area, or maybe more into their good side with a little evil in there to keep them normal.

Carlisle had always been unpolluted goodness and now, he was in the grey area or worse.

_Grey area, he is definitely now in the grey area; he is both good and evil but they… why is he not normal? Why is he frightening…?_ Rosalie thought. For if he were still so wrapped in evil, he would not be in pain as he was at the sight of yet another Cullen's fall. He wouldn't be here at all…

But the goodness that Rosalie knew was still there did not remind her of her father; this vampire was dangerous, and not in the most evil of senses.

"Other" Edward startled her. He didn't look at her when he said this, his eyes trained onto Carlisle but she was certain he was answering her observations of their father "He is other" he finished.

"Emmett" Carlisle spoke. He said no more and the bemused priest continued and finished the burial awkwardly with Carlisle standing beside him, never moving.

She touched the earth and felt it between her fingers as she grinded it, sprinkling it over the black casket silently. When she moved past Carlisle, she hugged him; as tightly as she could and whispered to him "Father, none of it is your fault"

He hugged her back but his touch was not as she remembered it and although she felt comfort, she was afraid at the same time, a thrill so foreign ran up her spine and in the softest voice he told her, "Oh but it is dear Rosalie. All of it"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

They were in a sparsely covered wilderness, the road and civilization so far behind she knew tracking her way back would be virtually impossible, even with her craft. She was sulking and suspicious, looking around her and hugging Charles shirt tightly to her; it offered no warmth and she didn't want to sit with them around the fire.

Dominic was reveling in something he had discovered as a result of somehow breaking allegiance to Malwood; breaking allegiance to the trees; the spirits that had given the craft to the Nobles to protect themselves from being hunted to extinction by vampires and other _things_.

He should revel in his accomplishment, Annabelle supposed, after all; those spirits were an evil that was not bourn from a human soul, and they fed of the souls of humans. It was inspiring to discover that his allegiance to Black may very well give him better vitality with managing the curse.

Although a part of her was happy about this; the majority of her was annoyed that Dominic was not sitting next to her and would not share in her plans to leave the wolves and their deadly Charles if he shared it with him.

Her brother was now tied to them, so completely as though they had done the bonding curse on him…

The only other being who seemed as lost as she was in discomfort was the girl, the _new_ one; Maria. She looked across from her and met the girls dark eyes and felt secret plans move in the girl. The girl was terribly human, Annabelle realized, and this made her smile.

She got up and walked carefully towards her, tracing the rim of the circle of people to avoid attention and sat next to Maria. She sighed "Not in a celebratory mood are we?"

"No" Maria all but spat, looking away.

"It must be hard, being as human as you are here" Annabelle continued, not dissuaded by the girls particular brand of grouchiness. Unlike the girl, she had foolishly made a plan against Charles Black that seemed to have taken no root on the strange immortal and instead… rooted itself to the bellowing lout jostling with Jacob Black; Embry. His name was Embry she had learnt.

"I am a quarter vampire" Maria stuck her chin up. "I am not human"

"That just makes you three quarters useless dear" Annabelle giggled and Maria glared at her.

Annabelle was aware of how small she was in that moment, not because she was afraid of the measly quarter-of-a-vampire lurking somewhere in Maria, but because the girl _did_ tower over her and seemed not as concerned with propriety as Renesme or Angela… she could very well slap Annabelle

"Not to say humans are useless" Annabelle elaborated, cocking her head up to Angela. "Some are more extraordinary than even a _quarter_ vampire"  
>"She isn't extraordinary" Maria didn't like Angela, Annabelle realized.<p>

Annabelle tried to understand the dislike from Maria's point of view but failed and only came up to the conclusion that Angela, although not the Alpha as Jacob was or second in command as Leah was; was like the unofficial elder of the group. The council of Jacob, Leah and Renesme, and her word had weight. Angela could say no to a particular decision and held respect with the rest of the wolves.

"She is" Annabelle said seriously. "You shouldn't take her so lightly. She should not be taken so lightly"

Maria remained silent but Annabelle was pleased at learning more about the juvenile girl. She needed a way to break the binding she had tried to perform; break a spell she had used, that she had been certain was unbreakable. She frowned, glaring at Embry… Jacob Black's half-brother and uncle to Charles; he was not bad looking, much fairer and less as rogued as Jacob Black. He had not been told about the spell by Charles; Charles had not told anyone it seemed, not even Leah.

Annabelle supposed it was unnecessary at the moment, lest she be killed by Leah for her attempt at stealing what wasn't hers; but as she watched Embry, she feared _his _reaction at knowing they were bonded.

She had to break it… maybe link him to Maria?

Unfortunately, while she mused Embry met her gaze and frowned too; a deep scary frown. She looked away and closed her eyes, counting back from five. She knew he didn't trust her, she knew he had hated her father more so than any other pack member and had no patience for spoilt girls… as she had overheard him refer to Renesme when detailing how they had defeated the vampire Joham.

"I don't know why we can't go to a city or town…" Maria begun but she was cut short by Leah, who sat very close to her and squashed Maria into Annabelle as a result. The log was much too small but Leah didn't care.

"If you haven't noticed by now…" Leah said slowly, chewing the meat hard (Annabelle had passed on the meat, not sure what it was and not caring to know how it had died) "Every time we try and sneak into a city or town, or hide in one… we get found out"

"So sitting in the middle of nowhere is the solution?" Maria snapped.

"You know, your head is about the same size as Joham's right now…" Leah grinned toothily at Maria who pushed her chin up pompously, staring Leah down.

Annabelle remembered one interesting fact; Maria was technically Joham's granddaughter; surely the dismemberment of her grandfather had some form of effect on the girl? And how did the pack know if Maria could be trusted? None of them could know what lurked in her mind, if she had ever interacted with the vampire or her father Nahuel…

"We could go to Volterra" Renesme begun. She was unmoving at the other side of the fire, standing beside a statue-like Charles. Charles eyes blazed like green fire, his skin clear and pale and hair alive; he reminded Annabelle of a vampire.

He was exquisite to her, in a way. A very _big_ way and the reminder of his sneaky knowledge on how Malwood operated against vampires, predicting a possible rebound of the spell to the only other non-vampire Black in Malwood… to Embry, the unannounced brother of Jacob Black… this, vexed her. Once again, he had used her.

"_You _could go to Volterra" Embry frowned at Renesme. Jacob seemed uneasy whenever the two interacted, Annabelle noted. Knowledge of the wolf dynamics was helpful, very and she was sure that was how Maria had gone for so long without getting her head ripped off with how _insolent _she could be.

"I could…" Renesme begun, looking at Charles but Jacob interjected with a stiff but clear "No, Charles is not going with you"

"You do not speak on my behalf!" Charles roared, a voice so loud and terrifying the whole campsite became quiet, all eyes on Charles and Jacob facing off.

"I do" Jacob did not raise his voice to supernatural heights, Annabelle was sure he may not have been able to regardless. "You are nothing more than a junky right now; send you to a city filled with vampires in one place? I can imagine it wouldn't take much to have you offering your blood to Aro for a taste of _his _venom?"

"Jake, come on…" Leah got up moving towards Jacob and Charles but Renesme caught her by the waist, a steely grip that frustrated Leah but the she-wolf did not phase, simply looking at Jacob with pleading large eyes.

Charles took a step forward towards Jacob but Jacob did not budge. Renesme pulled Leah further way and the campsite formed a large circle around Jacob and Charles.

"Guys, move" Angela came over to Maria and Annabelle and cocked her head to the dirt-bikes they had come on ("I think it's important to be self-sufficient… all this wolf riding chafes the thighs" Angela had said).

"What are we doing?" Maria inquired, peering over her shoulder. "Are we leaving?"  
>"We are going to set up a tent to sleep in" Angela smiled. "The bags are by the bi-"<p>

She didn't get a chance to finish when a sharp smack cut through the night, the sound of a heavy body being hit with such force; they all looked back over their shoulders… except Angela who whispered, while busying herself with the camping kit over the wild chaos behind her "One day you will turn into salt for both of your curiosities"

Charles had whacked Jacob into the air and before the Alpha had landed, he had turned into a giant terrifying wolf. The russet wolf shook its untamed coat and it shone almost crimson were the light from the camp fire splayed on it, its eyes burning amber. It took a step forward towards Charles who grinned, but it wasn't really a grin… Annabelle realized.

It was not a sneer either. The motion of Charles lips was animalistic, it showed teeth that Annabelle had not noticed to be pointed and large; like the vampires humans believed in.

"Jacob…" Maria had taken a step forward but Annabelle held the girls hand, intending to hold her in place; Annabelle needed Maria, didn't she? The girl could play on her teenage emotions on her own time…

"You are not my Alpha!" Charles growled.

Everyone was quiet, anticipating. Annabelle wondered why none of them phased? She could see Dominic lead Katherine away, Seth giving him the go-ahead to do so. The wolves where unphased and simply watching…

Annabelle realized that Jacob must have instructed them to do so; watch, do not phase. But at what point had the instruction been dealt? Telepathically, like how Charles could communicate to her back in Malwood.

She had to open her mind… she needed to understand what was going on; so she did.

_THEN LEAVE. _The words weighed a ton in her mind and a splitting headache erupted, like an axe had been struck upon the front of her awareness and she almost fell to her knees, her eyes closing but then Maria moved swiftly forward and Annabelle's hand had not loosened its grip and she then, fell forward into the dirt.

"Maria, what are you doing?" Annabelle breathed, scrambling up.

Angela then paid attention them, frowning "Stay out of it" she instructed but Maria turned her head to Angela, and gave her a derisive smile.

They were all watching now, anticipating. Annabelle understood now, the voice in her mind had been Jacob's, such a power in his telepathy… a God-given right; but it wasn't a command, it was a suggestion because Charles then looked to Leah, his mother and back at Jacob.

"You are not my…" he was about to repeat the words but he stuttered when Jacob took a step forward, the large wolf boring into his eyes from a considerable height.

_LEAVE IF I AM NOT YOUR ALPHA! _Jacob's nostrils flared, the lips moving up and revealing terrifying daggers pearling in the orange night caused by the camp fire. Charles growled low, it rumbled and his green eyes flashed; he was about to strike Jacob again, Annabelle realized.

She saw it play out only momentarily before the action blurred the movement a heap of fur and suddenly Charles was in the air; tossed effortlessly by Jacob. He fell so slow, almost as though he was deliberately not moving against the human logic of time and gravity; before he rippled and blurred and landed a wolf too.

"My…!" Angela breathed, dropping the pegs of the tent absently.

"No one has seen him a wolf?" Annabelle asked, looking back at Angela but quickly returning her eyes to the strangeness ahead; the two russet wolves.

"Not me" Angela answered.

In the second the two wolves were at it, jaws snapping and paws striking.

"Right, this is where we go and busy ourselves with tents…" Angela smiled nervously at Annabelle, pushing her broken spectacles over her bruised nose; her face was still healing, her one eye red. "Help me…?"

Annabelle looked over to Maria who had inched closer to the disruption, the wolves were no longer silent and some of them looked on the brink of phasing; they were jeering and excited by the violence, fists pumping in the air and the circle they formed around Jacob and Charles followed the two brawling wolves loosely like a inveigling containment in case things went further than just… blood and broken bones?

"He has venom?" Maria looked back at Angela, almost pleading. "Why aren't they stopping Charles? Why are they letting him bite into Jacob…?"  
>Angela was about to answer that question, which Annabelle realized was a great question in fact if venom in the bloodstreams of both werewolves and shapeshifters was toxic as it seemed (werewolves could digest it, but not have it in their blood streams directly) but then she remembered the way she had sensed secrets in Maria.<p>

She touched Angela's arm, squeezing and shook her head sideways twice before raising her pointing finger over her mouth. Angela frowned at her and Annabelle wondered if she had some level of loyalty from Angela; after all, they had been roommates in the Hive…

She was unsure for a moment but then Angela silenced momentarily before walking swiftly over to Maria and dumping equipment into the quarter vampires hand and saying "Let boys be boys. We'll worry about the scratches in the morning. Come help me?"

Maria was unwilling but she moved away, giving the swirling dust and heckling wolves (unphased and the two phased) one last queering look.

Before Annabelle had turned away though, being the last one left standing there she saw through the dancing bodies and animated mocking, Charles the Wolf, fur bloodied and muzzle a meaty mess, kneeling before a towering Jacob Black and whimpering. She dared to open her telepathy but she could hear them no more; Jacob did not need to impose his right any longer; Charles was neither in his human form… nor was he not acknowledging of Jacob Black as the Alpha…

As _his_ Alpha, possibly.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

The extraction had not been a success.

Lorraine was afraid.

"So much has gone wrong" she whispered, mostly to herself but Diane would hear her. The vampire stood by the expansive window of the lounge and gazed down to the daylight below, to the humans moving and dithering to their oblivion.

"Carlisle has not contacted you at all?" Diane asked.

Lorraine was annoyed by the question; not because she was reminded that Carlisle's disappearance spelt great punishment from her from the Japanese military officer that she had been secretly trading secrets on the meteorite project as well as her own allegiance to The Company would be put to the test; after having failed to find out on the wolves that had stormed The Hive.

Lorraine's annoyance with Diane's question was the reminder that her new vampire lackey (the most trustworthy one she had now, thanks to fusing her body with nanites that would ensure that Diane would put her safety first most), the beauty Diane, was in a deep form of infatuation with her maker Carlisle.

Lorraine wondered if that infatuation would put Diane's loyalty to her at risk… beside the fact that, although once secretly acknowledging the vampire Carlisle's beauty, the infatuation irked her on a womanly level.

Lorraine arranged her frown back to indifference to the question but Diane, the vampire, had not been staring at the people down below them from the apartment in New York. She had been watching Lorraine from the reflection of the glass.

"The village was destroyed" Lorraine said and Diane heard the hidden hitching in the human's voice. Lorraine was almost a vampire in a lot of ways, this little flux of emotion was trouble for both of them.

"Destroyed?" Diane asked innocently and Lorraine frowned freely at the vampire. Lorraine knew that Diane had heard her phone conversation unnaturally as the vampire could go without breathing.

"Blood, bodies…" Lorraine shook with anger "No meteor… no nothing"

"Joham?" Diane asked.

"Joham was busy tailing my squad in hopes of finding Renesme… this I am sure off" Lorraine began to pace. "I am unaware if he knew about the girl; his halfbreed son's offspring"

"Then who?" Diane moved from the window, enough of wondering what it would take to taste the blood of humans (Lorraine had her on synthesized blood), the pain of controlling her emotions tiring.

"The Volturi" Lorraine hadn't stopped pacing. "I think… but they did not clean up their mess. They normally would clean up their mess!"  
>"The vampire royalty?" Diane sat down elegantly, moving her legs over each other. She was prone to staring at things; her eyes were her biggest distraction, and what they saw was always different and alien to her dwindling memories as a human…<p>

Like Carlisle… he had been most _lovely_. She kept the picture of him from the file and when Lorraine had inquired on the missing picture from the file, Diane had remained quiet as children do when they know they cannot lie but the truth cannot be told.

"I cannot openly attack them without a go ahead from God's People…" Lorraine frowned. "They must have it! Did Carlisle betray us to them, dear Diane?" Lorraine stopped to look at Diane who blinked, dumbfounded by the inclusion of her opinion on the matter.

Lorraine waited for her answer and Diane said slowly, carefully "He is not one for duplicity"

"You know him so well when you only met him in death" Lorraine smiled sweetly.

"His venom flows through me" Diane raised her hand and flexed her fingers. The skin was so pale, the veins almost invisible.

"I agree but not because he is above duplicity" Lorraine continued "Something doesn't add up!"

"Get God's People to attack the Volturi then?" Diane offered "And head the attack before anyone is wiser about the star, retrieve it quietly and give it to the Japanese"

"Not even God's People are above the government as yet" Lorraine frowned "We would need the government to give the go ahead to God's People"

"Why?!"

"Because the Volturi's existence is known and protected by our lovely Military and government" Lorraine smiled "Who do you think has funded God's People? They cannot come out and show that this is a war. The secrecy contract has to be kept about the supernatural. And there is not a reason under the sky I could give them to disregard their strategy in wiping out vampirism; attacking them openly as the military would have devastating consequence, whether we win or not. There is not a reason in the world… and I would not reveal the existence of that goddamned artifact to them! Treason?"

"A murdered village?" Diane offered "Is that not enough reason…?"  
>"A murdered village off of our soil? Even if it were <em>here<em> such as so many towns that have been victim to devastating earthquakes and tornadoes over the year…" Lorraine frowned "People die every day; sometimes people even die because of _other_ people. I cannot expose the existence of that meteor and by now, I am sure the Volturi is aware that our government is not protecting them at all, if they have not discovered that God's People _are_ a government agent…"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"You all look positively famished!" Aro clapped his hands, spinning in the hall.

He was done with his condolences, Caius never uttering a word. The mention of Marcus sad passing had caused more of a stir amongst the gathered vampires than that of Edward's buried brother. The hall was filled with vampires, most of whom Edward noted were over five hundred years old.

They had been awaiting their arrival; not because the Cullens were anything special, but because the meeting could only take place when all the heads of Aro's chosen covens were there. Only the heads of the covens, Edward understood from the thoughts and age of the vampires, for even these vampires were weary of the Volturi's intention.

"We decline your offer" Edward answered Aro's oncoming offers for humans.

"Why, you can't still think them more than a meal?" Aro smiled sweetly, walking towards Edward. He was dressed in his normal attire of robes, his hair groomed and skin ashen. His eyes twinkled red and the uneasiness Edward had seen in him from before, in the hotel room, was gone.

_Even Carlisle thinks them less… Edward_. Aro's hand reached for Carlisle's, and Edward tensed. They had all entered without any inquiry on their thoughts, Aro taken Jane's diction on the occurrences' and disaster; the monster they had all seen.

It was only Jane's hand he had touched.

Edward wanted to warn Carlisle, guard him against Aro; for not even Edward had heard all of Carlisle's thoughts on what had happened since he had gone to the humans. But he couldn't…

"My oh my" Aro breathed, closing his eyes. "Such rage and sorrow; such horrors"

He released Carlisle's hand, who was indifferent to having his thoughts perused through and smiled at Carlisle. Carlisle hadn't changed out of the black shirt from Emmett's funeral, his hair had not been combed through since the rain. He was beautiful disaster to Aro; and Aro wanted him.

He could hide so much from Edward but not this fact; he wanted Carlisle and was certain he would have him…

"Have him?" Edward asked.

"Shush Edward" Aro touched a finger to Edward's mouth who puckered in disgust; the action was semi-sexual, he had seen that from Aro's over excited mind. The ancient vampire was high on some victory that was yet to be revealed.

"The Cullens shall feed" Caius rose up from his seat "You have no leader and that won't do, and your confusion to stick to _thirst_ needs to be clarified for you"

All the Cullens remained silent, looking from one another to Edward who could say nothing of the matter. Isabella gave Edward an indicative look, opening her mind to him.

_Lead us…_

He remained silent, ignoring their pleas. He was not a leader, he was sure… he could not be a leader.

"Carlisle, dear friend..." Aro smiled "Tell them they have no leader? They seemed confused of the fact…"

Carlisle said nothing and made no movement.

"Father?" Rosalie asked, touching Carlisle's hand. He looked down to where she touched him, to his hand but remained silent.

"Are you worried about the nun you killed?" Aro said sadly and Carlisle's blackened eyes snapped up to him. He growled low but Aro was not moved by the frightening sound, although Jane had repositioned herself and two of her henchmen.

"It is not murder" Aro smiled "Even you knew it then, when you killed her. It is reading the earth of blemishes"

"Do not presume to understand me, Aro" Carlisle's voice was calm but the deadly look in his eyes made Aro strategize his words. "Those thoughts you violated…"  
>"Yes, from a place set far to the evil you do not understand of yourself" Aro smiled. "But the matter at hand is before us, comrade…"<br>"We are not comrades…" Carlisle was angering and it frightened Edward for he had no inhibitions with the manner in which they were surrounded.

"But we are" Aro smiled. "We are at war, brother"

"We are at war, brothers and sisters" this time Aro addressed everyone in the hall. He took out several cards and held them in his hand "with…." He paused, shaking his head.

"Just say it as embarrassing as it is!" Caius snapped impatiently.

"Humans" Aro finished and half the hall erupted in murmurs. The other half, Edward realized, did not join in the bemusement of the statement because they had known. They had experienced the threat of the humans… they had lost vampires too, to the strangeness where predator becomes prey.

"We need more vampires" Aro said but Edward caught the words he did not voice out to the vampires in the hall; _we need half vampires._ Edward stiffened and looked at Carlisle, who as unhinged as he was, now had a new importance in the Volturi's eyes.

"I have the names of the vampires each coven head is to turn…" Aro passed the cards to Jane, who swiftly moved from vampire to vampire distributing them before placing one in Edward's hand. Edward had not needed to look down at it, already knowing a name was scrawled on it and whose name it was.

"I have now understood a certain particular about vampires" Aro smiled "Humans that have been in the presence of vampires for a continued time before being turned… are more likely to manifest _talents_. Some of you may think the Volturi is unaware of your human pets… but we don't need a psychic to know everything"

"Edward?" Rosalie moved to Edward's side and took the card from him, turned it over and read the name out to the rest of their coven. "Angela Weber"

Xx~xx~xX

X

x


	17. Life Line

**LIFE LINES**

"It is possible he would allow us to choose a different human…" Edward was determined but Rosalie could see it in his eyes that he knew as she did, that voicing out his hesitations on the choice of Angela Weber would prompt Aro to inquire on _all_ his thoughts on the human.

After all, it was only when he behaved against the nature of vampires (outside of refusing to drink a human's blood), was Edward to be thought of caring for that human in an illogically all-consuming manner.

He heard her inner musings and groaned.

They were alone in the Italian fields, having come out to hunt. There was no satisfactory wildlife in the area and Rosalie had settled herself to some poor man's horse while Edward had gone a few miles away from her and ruined a wealthier farmer's livestock. They could not hunt together as yet as their bond had only recently begun to strengthen; Edward was accustomed to hunting solitary at most times but she was not, and had had a particularly lonely hunt that produced an unimpressively simple kill. Edward's shirt had a splatters of blood on its front, his skin visibly less… deathly. She thought he had left the man with nothing, dead animals lying in their pens and he probably had had a go at the chickens too… judging by the single feather blending in with his hair.

"If I offer to give him what he _really_ wants…" Edward ignored her concern on his lack of inhibition with his thirst (he may have over done it, but he was still in control… he was certain…) and plucked the feather out of his hair. She supposed she had no right to be concerned on that front; only Edward and Carlisle had control over the compulsion of that beast.

"What he wants?" she asked, her throat roaring at the memory of human blood splattering in her face, bones crunching and sweet nectar swirling in her mouth like a fine wine. How sad it was that for the Volturi the drenching and soaking soil they had left was normal; for her, it was like a nightmare that her mind went to if she dared to ponder on all the thoughts weaving through her mind.

"Half vampires" Edward sighed "He wants them, badly. I see the reasoning I suppose; half vampires would not be pray to Nano-technology as we are. But what he doesn't realize is that half vampires, judging by how susceptible the humans were to the Shadow Beast… would be incapable at all to fight of the compulsion…"  
>"Why not discuss the Shadow Beast with him?" Rosalie asked. She splayed her fingers over the long grass, looking ahead to the sun setting; its rays did not touch their skins, but its beauty touched her. Everything left in the world, would have made Emmett smile.<p>

But this would make her smile more; that horrendous beast, lying in the ground with its lolling tongue covered in dirt and eyes dug out. The Beast, dead at her feet.

"You really think after what we experienced that Aro's first inclination would be to bring it to its knees?" Edward's voice was so low, barely moving from his lips. "It is a demon, Rosalie and its thoughts were nothing but vileness"

"I find it curious that he has not addressed it, considering he wanted the damned star so much!" Rosalie's anger, that had been under control for so long (mostly due to Jasper), spiked. She rounded on Edward and narrowed her eyes at him; jealous that his own eyes were still honeyed while hers would remain bloodied for a few weeks until all the humans she had killed had left her veins… but would it matter, they would be on her mind; a horrendous pleasure, a sweet nightmare.

_Human Blood… feast… drink… kill…_

"Well, now that he is aware that it was neither a star, nor meteor nor artifact… I guess he doesn't want it" Edward muttered, looking away from her. She thought he might have been ashamed at the lust in her mind "We had better get back. I need to think on this Angela matter…"

Their journey back was silent; Rosalie had lost her fondness of the beauty of the country side in the wake of her anger and scowled at everything they passed. On their arrival in the city, they skipped and moved easily through the humans, with Rosalie's sparsely quenched thirst being a nuisance to her one ambition; have that thing dead at her feet.

Edward said nothing of her revenge plans and when they entered the apartment they had sought, a good distance from the Volturi Asylum set up for the vampires in Italy, they were met with anxious eyes of their brother and sister.

"What is it?" Rosalie asked Alice, her nerve further irritated when Alice and Edward had a silent parley between themselves.

"Alice has had a vision" Edward's tone further dropped into anguish. He said no more and walked away from all of them, into the bathroom and closed the door.

"Alice?" Rosalie asked.

"We must find Lorraine" Alice breathed and this, Rosalie was not expecting. "Lorraine's life is tied to Carlisle's life and she is in grave danger. The Shadow Beast is infiltrating the humans; The Company"

"You can see it-the Beast?" Rosalie frowned. "And you can suddenly see Lorraine…" her anger pricked and Jasper moved closer to them, his eyes shining red in the dark apartment "But only after Emmett's death do you find yourself useful once more, eh sister?"

Alice was taken aback, her eyes wide.

"Didn't see that one coming though!" Rosalie snapped, a sneer on her perfect lips.

"That is unfair Rosalie!" Alice cried. "I have lost all control of my talent since the inclusion of werewolves! I have been trying to find loopholes. I have only gained some control. It is not to say that I have seen the Shadow Beast Rose, but I felt its influence in the vision of the humans; that odd hypnosis"

"Rosalie" Jasper sighed "Would you think that of your sister?"

Rosalie silenced, looking away ashamed.

"This may interest you, Edward too…" Jasper momentarily vanished before returning with a laptop, held facing Rosalie. He clicked the space button and a video began to play "The humans have slipped up"

The video was dark and bad quality and in Rosalie's mild annoyance, she wanted to _not _watch it if only to irk Jasper and Alice further… but then, the human who had recorded it began to whisper. In the video, the human appeared to be hiding under a car or truck for Rosalie could make out the intricacies of the underbelly of a vehicle, the cellphone device held away from it and Rosalie could hear the humans' heavy breathing.

"_Oh God, what is that..?"_ the human spoke but then the sound flared, a high shriek and the walloping growls of what Rosalie recognized to sound exactly like a werewolf. There were paws and hooves running past the human, the truck the human was hiding under momentarily shook causing the phone in the human's hand to shake insistently.

The rumbling stopped, but in the distance there were ferocious sounds. And then something fell in front of the video phone and the human let out a yelp, pushing back from under the truck. There was darkness momentarily as the phone must have been covered by the human's hand before it was faced upright once more.

Lying in front of the human, was a werewolf; a dead one. Its eyes seemed to look right into the camera, unseeing and lifeless as they were. The video stopped.

And then another loaded after it, this time the human spoke clearly and his face was blurred deliberately "The government will have you believe that what happened in our town was some sort of natural disaster… but I swear it wasn't and that video is real. I shot it. I survived it. The whole place was filled with animals and that _thing_ you saw… there were also people… but they weren't really people… and they killed people. They took people…"

The video stopped.

"My God!" Rosalie breathed.

"It was taken down almost as quickly as it had been put up" Jasper shut the lid of the laptop carefully and placed the device on the couch. "Jane sent the video to me"

"Jane?" Edward emerged from the bathroom. "She wants you to work with her?" Edward went on, frowning and visibly unsettled by this.

"I think… I will" Jasper spoke, closing his eyes. "We have lost enough family, have we not? Aro obviously needs Carlisle and he will be willing to extend resources in order to secure Lorraine, would he not? And if we have Lorraine, we have inside information too, outside of what Carlisle was privy too"

"The violence of that town…" Jasper went on "May not be at the hands of The Company… at least, not solely on their hands. Why would they leave such evidence, such sloppiness? Something unexpected had to have happened"

"Edward… this gives you an opportunity to go and find Angela" Alice said carefully "We will deal with Aro's decision to turn her into a vampire on a later date but I think you should be where she is. Where Charles and Renesme are"

"You could show Aro the vision you had of Angela turning into a vampire?" Edward tried but he knew this was futile; Alice's vision of the disaster of Angela Weber turning into a vampire was up for interpretation.

"She turns… and then nothing, for Carlisle's future" Alice sighed. "Another vision showed you disappearing Edward. Another was Rosalie, disappearing and one with Jasper gone from my visions. Always someone from our family would be gone from my visions altogether…"

That vision had not happened ever since they had left the farm but it was certain to Alice that the turning of Angela Weber into a vampire would have dire consequences for the Cullens.

"I think… such information should be kept from Aro as best as we can" Rosalie agreed. "Maybe it won't be so bad for you to just get Angela pregnant, Edward…?"  
>"What?" Edward had not heard that train of thought formulating in Rosalie's mind. "No" he said automatically but his chest clenched at the notion; not because he wanted a child with Angela, or that he wanted to deal with his feelings towards her, or whether she would agree to be pregnant with a half vampire child, or that she would want one with <em>him<em>…

"She would end up needing venom" Edward answered swiftly, strategically "She would end up needing venom and that would still return us to the problem of the vision"  
>"She may choose to just <em>die<em> after child birth…" Isabella walked in, blasé. Her eyes shone red, as all their eyes did except Edward. "She is _quite_ the martyr"

"Were you not just that way once, Bella?" Rosalie laughed "Must be a human affliction. Heavens, Edward you could turn her then she'll just end up being Bella-two-point-oh."

"No… I really wasn't a martyr, not really" Isabella smiled, tapping the side of her head "I was just a proficient actress, possibly. But one cannot be certain with far away memories of humanity; maybe, I was just _that_ foolish and in love…"

"I propose Isabella and Edward go in search of Angela and Renesme" Alice said firmly "It may be in the best interest, and safest interest… to convince the pack to work with the Volturi?"  
>"Is there nowhere safe left in the world?" Isabella smiled. "But yes, Edward. We should at least find our daughter and grandchild. If you and I leave, we may yet be able to lose the inquiry of the Volturi rather than we all just leave"<p>

Edward realized that in all his anguish at Alice's vision and Aro's plans for Angela, the most deadly threat of their eternity had begun to reveal it self. If the Shadow Beast had infiltrated the humans, there would be, as the creature had promised; death and blood.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

"Okay, I think it's better for Katherine and me to go and get you clothes, and refreshments…" Angela instructed, trotting to the side of her bike and unclasping her bag. "You know, we are probably the two least detectable of the group"  
>"Why would you consider me detectable" Maria scowled.<p>

"You see, I am _actually_ human and Katherine when she isn't near turning… is human" Angela smiled sweetly at Maria's insolence but Annabelle was unconvinced although understanding the logic. As much as Annabelle wanted to have some form of security that involved actual clothing; she didn't want to be left alone with Maria… whom, as much as she had tried to pull a level of trust from the girl, was grating in every way imaginable to someone like Annabelle who had lived more decades than Maria's singular one plus five years or so.

Annabelle huddled in the shirt, frowning around them; most of the guys were in wolf form and napping while Charles was perched in a tree; Renesme under it, ignoring a staring Jacob at the far east of their latest camp site… while Leah tried to talk to Jacob.

Annabelle had lost the bound book with its eclectic selection of spells back in her haste to leave Malwood (not realizing that the teleportation spell would leave all clothing and items, only sending her physical body out) and what she had learnt, seemed insufficient to her in the face of her realization that vampires were impervious to most of the spells she had been taught, except those involving fire; for any spells against vampires required dark mysticism. A darkness that the trees in Malwood had contained so abundantly.

"Fine" Annabelle breathed turning away from the women and settling herself to sit by Dominic, who sat alone under a bushy tree.

Just as she reached Dominic, Maria followed in her direction and Annabelle scowled, whispering to her bother "Do you trust her?"

"I trust no one but Jacob and Leah" Dominic half growled "I dare say, I trust them more than you little sister"

"Comforting words" Annabelle was unperturbed with Dominic's tetchiness, a side effect of it being only a few days after his turning she thought… and even if it weren't, she didn't care. Her relationship with her bother consisted of trust and distrust; never occurring at the same time and driven by their own personal goals. She knew he suspected her to be up to something…

Of course, he couldn't be too sure, now could he? He had not been the only one tortured in Malwood, by their father… she had needed to escape just as much as he had.

"It was nice of you to insist on Charles freeing me" Dominic half turned his head to her "Or was it you knew you had a better chance of being freed yourself, and accepted by Jacob and Leah if I were with you?"  
>"Such things you say" Annabelle needed him to stop his bout of talkativeness; Maria was idling towards them, seemingly torn between sitting with Leah and Jacob or joining Annabelle and her brother at the outskirts of pack society.<p>

"Do the things I say hold truth?" Dominic touched his large slender fingers to her elbow and Annabelle looked down at the touch, frowning. She didn't like being touched at all, it was not a practice that was in their family and this development annoyed her thoroughly.

"You will find truth in all your suspicions, brother" she snapped pulling her arm away and cradling it to her "Whatever intentions you think I may have, know this one thing; you are free of Malwood"

"I guess I should be thankful to have a sister such as yourself" Dominic leaned back against the tree, closing his eyes momentarily before letting out a soft chuckle. They both watched in silence and with equal observation as Maria chose the company of Leah and Jacob.

Dominic had long calmed his wayward feelings for Leah, deciding that Charles would be his own undoing to Leah's devotion of Charles. After all, Dominic himself had uncovered greater joys than love (for love had never been a concern of his in the torment of being a werewolf nonetheless), and in being freed of Malwood and the heavy burden the town had imposed on him… he was happy.

Annabelle, Dominic had observed, was strangely curious about Maria and in Annabelle's curiosity of the girl; Dominic had found himself observing her closer too.

Xx~xx~xX

"Have you ever considered not being human?" Katherine asked. She was picking up box after box of tampons, unsure on which one she would be choosing. It was a strange thing to have to fuss over in the wake of all the disaster they had experienced; having ones period.

Angela's need for the trip was due to her period first most and she was not about to ask whether the other occupants in her gender had no similar requirements; she was used to dealing with the human side of being female in silence. What had shocked her, though was Katherine's shy confession that she may have skipped a month last time (due to having her period coincide with the days she was turning) but she felt she would go 'on' soon.

It made sense in its own way; after all, Seth had imprinted on the girl… if wolf magic was to go by as a 'mating' ritual, which Angela herself thought was bogus; Renesme could no longer have children, as far as she had understood as the half vampires periods were spread out over _years._

"I like being human, it's all I have ever known" Angela replied automatically.

"But I mean, your current lifestyle makes being human so… hard" Katherine giggled. "Imagine, if you were not human, your wounds would have healed ages ago…"  
>"But they <em>have<em> healed" Angela was getting annoyed by the conversation, reminded of the way wolves would abruptly begin a squabble in ways that almost always ended with blood and broken bones.

"Maria also gets her period" Katherine took three boxes of tampons and dumped them into the cart.

"She told you this?" Angela pushed her broken spectacles up her nose and moved up the aisle until she came by the skin care section. She began inspecting different brands, finding the activity soothing; anything that was normal, had become therapeutic to her.

"Well, she is the one who finished the cotton wool a few days ago" Katherine mumbled as though she were saying something that would put Maria into immediate trouble "And Nessie said the smell was annoying for her and Charles"

"Nessie said this to you?" Angela prodded, realizing that Katherine's innocence made her a neutral part of the pack, which made her privy to certain elements and confessions of different members.

"Yeah, I kinda asked Nessie why her and Charles don't really talk to Maria… seeing as how they are all part vampire" Katherine played with the sleeve of her sweater as she said this. Angela noted Katherine tended to adopt the particularities of whomever she was with; when she was with Renesme she would dress and behave to suit Renesme and as she was with Angela, she was currently donned in a hoody, jeans and sneakers (she had passed on the combat boots that Angela herself had seen as a necessity for the way they travelled and lived).

"I don't think it matters what one is…"Angela answered carefully "I mean, you and Seth hang out a lot and Seth isn't a werewolf"

Katherine remained silent at that, blushing furiously and tugging the sleeve of her sweater more violently.

"Atka likes to spend time alone" Angela said "But he does talk to Dominic and Jacob a lot"  
>"Yeah well, Dominic is about the most mature person after you" Katherine giggled and Angela frowned, offended at 'Mature'.<p>

They went to the till and unloaded the cart, Angela thumbing through the money Renesme had given her; it was almost two thousand dollars. They had spent almost four hundred dollars and now, she had the task of buying a vehicle.

Throughout their day, Katherine kept her running commentary up while Angela thought up how she would bring this one thing up to Jacob Black; they should return to Forks as soon as possible for Forks was no longer safe without the wolves.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Lorraine wished it weren't raining; she wished the sun was out and shining. She always felt a tad safer, if the sun was out and shining, although she knew that that would not stop them. She knew her name now resounded in the world of the supernatural with a distinct peal; she knew, very well… that her life was at constant risk.

Diane held the umbrella over Lorraine with ease, not bothered by how wet she herself was becoming. Lorraine was in a foul mood, her aura dangerous; as dangerous as any human could be to the new born vampire for Lorraine could not be killed by Diane but when Lorraine's emotions were unhinged… the human tended to act irrationally.

Her irrationality was a rare sight, Diane had noted, as Lorraine's composure was almost supernatural. Her heart gave her away though, that treacherous muscle always gave _them_ away…

"Wait" Lorraine instructed and Diane paused, looking around them. They were in the heart of the city, the rain pouring in large heavy droplets but not ferociously; it wasn't a storm, but it would not abate. The coolness of the air was unwanted to Diane; she liked the sun, although unable to go out into the day. The sun made her feel warm, reminded her of warmth and being swathed in life.

They crossed the road and went into the building swiftly, the human guards remaining outside. Once inside, Diane shook the umbrella carefully-her tactile senses were askew, before closing it and handing it to the security personal at the information desk. The man looked at her closely, mesmerized and Diane smiled; only, it wasn't really a smile.

The action was instinctual; a soft snarl had escaped her lips. Lorraine's tenseness made Diane tense and paranoid too.

"Are there any people using the staircase?" Lorraine asked and Diane listened, hearing no footsteps and sensing no humans.

"No" she answered and Lorraine moved to the door that led to the emergency stairway. Once they had entered, Diane carried Lorraine and ran up the stairway to the top swiftly. The run was not a feat for Diane, or Lorraine's weight; Lorraine's human body, fragile as it was and the heat from the blood that moved beneath the skin and was felt even through the clothing, the steady beat of Lorraine's heart…

Those were feats; for Diane wanted to very much kill Lorraine.

But as much as that instinct to feed was strong in her, the will to remain immortal was even stronger and Lorraine's death would mean her own death… as well as Carlisle Cullen's death too.

They were met by two guards at the top, Diane guessing that the cameras had caught her zooming form, as well as all the many anti-vampire measures that surely would have been taken by Mr. Frazer. They were led in to the office in silence and inside, Mr. Frazer stood in front of his desk, hands in his pockets.

"I would have preferred you not have come with your vampire, Lorraine dear" Mr. Frazer did not acknowledge Diane, greeting Lorraine informally. Lorraine smoothed her clothes silently, taking her briefcase from Diane and instructing Diane to stand guard outside-with the two human guards.

Diane made no move to go, looking at Mr. Frazer closely; he was tensed too, Diane realized. Afraid, and nervous; not of the fact that Lorraine had come with 'her' vampire, but of whatever dealings that Diane had not been given liberty to know about by Lorraine.

She would find out soon enough, Diane thought. Lorraine nodded her head once, an indication that it was safe for Diane to leave. Diane looked at the man again, noting that he was half Japanese.

This had everything to do with the artifact-the mystery behind what no one knew of the meteorite or fallen star, the one thing that Lorraine had wanted to free herself from The Company, and gain the trust of the Japanese.

The moment Diane exited and heard the door snap behind her, she let out a breath she had been holding since walking through the city below. She inhaled, and smelt the guards. They were nowhere near her but she smelt them and heard their beating hearts. One was smoking and the other waiting with him.

Behind her, Mr. Frazer greeted Lorraine again-inquiring on her bringing her 'vampire', once again.

X

"I trust her more than I trust God's People" Lorraine answered Mr. Frazer. She sat down, hating the ostentatious leather couch Mr. Frazer-Frazer, to Lorraine-had in his office.

"I received a report on a massacre on a highway, not far out of that supernatural backwater town" Frazer had not moved from the front of his desk, taking out a cigarette from the breast pocket of his shirt. He lit it and pulled, closing his eyes.

"Yes, I would suspect you had; the worst thing of its kind to ever happen is it not?" Lorraine's voice was worn. She had spent the better part of her time the previous day, taking in calls and sending out instructions, her herself being instructed to make her way to The Company headquarters.

The disastrous carnage outside the already flattened backwater town in question had done the one thing that was not permitted in both human and supernatural laws; let loose a series of events and suspicions that humans were not to be privy to.

"Well, people have always been fickle" Frazer sighed, sitting on the edge of his desk and resting his ankle on his knee. He began to tick his leg to a tune only he could hear. "I suspect it will fade as some gag soon enough, to the public that is. Humans do not like the unknown much. It vexes them so"

He took a pull of his cigarette again, a long one. He hadn't finished the cigarette yet, placing it carefully into a glass ashtray before removing the whole packet of cigarettes from his breast pocket.

He smiled sheepishly at Lorraine "Sixty a day or more" he said.

"Stressful times" Lorraine smiled back. Frazer was her last ally in The Company, and he had just as much to lose as she did with the chaos that was surrounding God's People.

"You failed to retrieve Carlisle Cullen" Frazer said slowly and Lorraine's heart squeezed, a drip of fear going through her. His eyes were cold on her face and Lorraine was all too aware of how much power she had lost in half a month.

"You know I did" she kept the smile in place.

"I thought you had filtered our own men with the team sent to retrieve shapeshifters?" Frazer was no longer smiling at all, and she felt as though she were a child being scolded.

"I know how terribly I have fucked up, Frazer…" she began and Frazer tutted, stubbing his second cigarette out. She silenced, her lower lip trembling.

"I needed the girl Lorraine. I promised General Garth that I would have a biological weapon ready for him. Do you realize how many eyes I have on me? The Japanese army wanted that goddamn _thing _in South America and Crazy Garth wanted something nasty to play with" Frazer whispered. "The company needed the girl too. All research on Renesme Cullen was destroyed by the familiars that had been working inside The Hive"

"It wasn't that easy getting the girl" Lorraine's voice increased in volume and she fisted her fingers, angry and afraid. "Maria was a wild card; we were looking for her, Joham was looking for her… good God, what else did they think would happen? I told them that vampires were not just solitary murderers as they thought or like the Volturi… Joham had an established system. I couldn't very well manage Carlisle and manage the Joham problem simultaneously Frazer…?"  
>"I know, Lorraine…" Frazer gave her the fakest smile, before offering her a smoke too. She shook her head.<p>

"There was an attack in Idaho" Frazer said slowly "It happened last night"

For a moment, Lorraine couldn't understand his words, blinking then she realized he meant one of their outposts in Idaho.

"A lot of men and women dead, they seemed to have killed each other…" Frazer said in a hollow tone "And those surviving have no explanation. The story is that it was a break-in to free a vampire held there, possibly a vampire with some kind of extra ability of hypnosis"

"There are no vampires held in Idaho" Lorraine said automatically. "That facility is for weapons and training only"

"Maybe we do not know as much as we should" Frazer breathed. "There are power movements happening within God's People"

"No, there are no vampires…" Lorraine said adamantly, confused.

"There _was_ one. And the rescue mission was not a success because The Company still have the vampire"

Lorraine closed her eyes and could feel her heart pounding.

"But that isn't the craziest part of the story…" Frazer laughed "Apparently, one guard… swears that a giant toad-like creature was responsible for the deaths!"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Maria walked really close to me, her arms crossed over her chest and hair uncombed. She had learnt to be paranoid, her eyes darting from side to side and head turning if we passed a suspicious character. Leah was slightly ahead of us, not pretending to _not _be annoyed at Marias slower gait; Maria didn't have long legs like Leah, or like Renesme…

Renesme and Charles were up ahead, they seemed to not be moving; half gliding over the pavement, Renesme's head would turn occasionally to follow every other human that would pass her. She was thirsty, I knew this; and would probably wait until it became unbearable to feed.

She stopped, pulling Charles back who seemed keen to carry on moving. They waited for us, Leah dancing to Charles side and peering up at his face like a toddler; she stuck her tongue out at him and he turned his head away from her, no expression on his face.

"You know, he was always that serious anyway" Maria tried for conversation and I gave her a noncommittal sound for her efforts. No one in our group had venom and the next best thing would be Renesme's blood, and judging by supernatural hierarchy… Leah and I; I wasn't sure how he had faired last time, to be honest…

How had Leah brought him back?

That was the only thing stopping me from going between Leah and Charles; for insisting she let me deal with him; the last time he had gone through this, it was her that had found him. She had shaken him back to our world.

She seemed at ease with it, anxious at his coldness but positive; I guess he could have zapped off a few days ago and maybe the coldness was the Edward part coming out fool force…

But not even Edward could manage Charles death glare.

We crossed the road together but once we were on the other side, Renesme and Charles once again managed to find themselves up ahead, Leah trying to wait on Maria and I but failing to hide that she would rather hold Charles' un-swinging hand and dance up to Angela, Katherine and Annabelle's apartment.

It was a day after we had left the wilderness, Angela had decided she needed a bed and a shower and Maria and Annabelle had seconded that decision swiftly; Angela, had her own pack within my pack. I wasn't too bothered by it, it meant I didn't need to worry about the girly stuff. Just the… killing stuff.

Renesme and Charles were patiently waiting for us in front of the elevators, that odd box Renesme had bought at an Antiquity store held in her hand. Inside it Joham's head would be sitting ashen, eyes glazed and swiveling around.

Renesme pressed the up button and stepped back.

"We are being followed" she announced.

I sniffed but didn't make out any vampires and if they were humans, well… there were humans all over the place in the night life outside.

"I thought so" Maria wove her arm through mine. Both Renesme and I looked down at the action as it played out; I looked at Renesme, she looked back up to the blink of the descending number until the elevator would reach us.

"You are becoming more perceptive" I told Maria, removing her hand and patting it before dropping her hand altogether.

"No shit" Leah snorted "Of course we are being followed… sentinel one and two with flaming hair here are like a supernatural lighthouse…"  
>"We are being followed by shapeshifters, Jacob" Renesme didn't turn around when she said this, entering the elevator and refusing to look at me as I entered it. "You need to pay attention to what is happening…"<p>

This time she did look at me, a sneer in place and anger lurking in her dark eyes.

"Lest you get sidetracked by vermin" she turned her head away momentarily.

Maria caught this-it was difficult to miss, Renesme wasn't going for subtle anyway. Maria frowned at Renesme but Renesme wasn't looking at her at all.

"They have a child with them" Renesme stated, clasping Charles hand momentarily.

I was still trying to decipher her words, convinced there was some hidden meaning in them that would tell me how she was truly feeling, but then Charles spoke; clear and as the norm with his venommed-out voice box, too loud "I suggest we send… Maria down to inquire on what they want"

"I second that" Renesme answered and I knew immediately they were having some form of telepathic _something._

"Hmm, yes" Leah said superiorly "Give her more responsibility, she has proven herself. Angela's room is 62, almost-vampire girl"

Maria was suspicious, looking up to me but just as I shrugged at her, and said "Why not", the elevator door opened, I stepped out and although she remained in the elevator to go back down to the lobby… her eyes swiveled to look at the ornamented wooden box with olive silk inlay that Renesme held.

The elevator doors shut slowly and Maria's expression behind them was sour.

We reached the apartment door, my mind whirling with all the things I seemed to have missed. I kept quiet, refraining from showing weakness by questioning what had just happened. Renesme knocked three times, sighed and said to Charles "Goodness, I think Angela is trying to cook. She is always _trying_ to cook. She should stick to pouring milk in cereal"

The door opened and it wasn't Angela who opened it, but Annabelle. Her hair was wrapped up in a white towel and her skin clearer and cleaner. She wore a bathrobe that was horribly baggy and spacious on her small thin frame. She didn't immediately let us in, frowning at Charles so viciously I thought she would hit him.

"Where is Maria?" she demanded.

"Dealing with things downstairs" Charles said and Renesme, Leah and I doubled over, covering our ears as he spoke. He looked at us and blinked, dumbfounded by our behavior. He was about to speak again, probably to ask what was wrong with us when Leah rushed to him quickly and put her hand over his mouth.

"Modulate. Your. Voice" she breathed. He hadn't looked more himself than that moment, before removing Leah's hand and given her a half sheepish smile.

"Why was it imperative you get a moment without Maria around?" Renesme asked moving forward. Annabelle let us through, closing the door behind us.

"She cannot be trusted" Annabelle said blandly. "I believe she somehow lead Joham to Malwood… well, at least assisted in him estimating its location"

"Impossible" I said shaking my head. They all looked at me and I realized how I looked to them, to Renesme as I defended her automatically. "Look…" I tried again "She would have no way of doing so. Why would she do so, rather? She didn't know him…?"  
>"You have gone through her mind and discovered that, then?" Annabelle raised an eyebrow, going into the kitchen, were Angela was cooking… whilst drinking wine. Renesme was already in there, opening pots and frowning at everything steaming on the stove.<p>

"We don't know that Jake…" Leah said "We don't exactly have a telepath in our midst"  
>"Charles?" Annabelle offered. "Possibly you have done this?"<p>

"I can only prod into the mind for a… conversation, if you will" Charles sat down slowly, Leah smiling appreciatively at him when he managed to not give us all a migraine when he spoke. "I can also enter into the subconscious or dream aspect, or place a thought or instruction into a mind. I cannot see or hear thoughts; previous, current or future"

"Thanks for the insight" I muttered. "Look, the one telepath who hears everything whether you want him to or not… isn't with us"  
>"You have a telepath with that much magnitude and free range…!" Annabelle breathed seemingly in awe but then she shook her head as if reproaching herself "Of course, the vampire we had to wear those ear devices against at the lab, do you remember Angela?"<br>"Hmm" Angela didn't stop her cooking, shooing Renesme's hand away from her cooking stick "Vaguely"

There was a knock on the door. Renesme moved swiftly to me, her hand going over my arm.

_Maria cannot accompany us to Forks… especially if we do not know of her allegiance, Jacob. Supernatural communities are being targeted. _

I nodded tersely and listened as Maria came in with the shapeshifters.

"Mr. John…" they said and I turned around to acknowledge them. I failed to recognize them and their scent was, like back with Larry, almost unnoticeable. The one man carried a baby in his arms.

That baby was Larry's nephew.

"We are going on the run…" they spoke fast, heated, looking behind them to the door that had already been closed. "The other pack wants Larry's blood for you know, how he had worked with… _them" _he was already trying to hand the baby to someone female, but Maria had crossed her arms in a suggestion that she would gladly let the child fall to the ground.

"I only like cute babies" Leah spoke but she gave me a concerned look.

"Wait…" I raised my hand for him to stop and asked slowly "How is it that you found us?"  
>"We been in shifter form most of the time…" he said "I'm a dog and Matt here is crow. Matt followed you outta town, followed you through the wilderness. He called me soon as he saw you were setting up in the city… and I brought him here" he bounced the sickly child in his arms twice, as though the action would make Judie's son cuter to the eye. He looked hungry, dirtier than I had ever seen him and my heart hurt.<p>

But our world was no place for a child, especially one such as him.

"Why not give him to Larry's kin" Renesme spoke, taking the child and raising him in the air. Inspecting him almost. She frowned a little but then held him anyway, dirty diaper and all.

"Dead" the man spoke. "What's left of the town has been taken over. Protests for Malwood to intervene…" at this, Annabelle let out a knowing cough from the kitchen.

"Killed by the humans?" I asked.

"Killed by Larry's allegiance with a vampire. The don't think that what happened was the humans taking our people. They think it was mostly a vampire attack, Mr. John"

He was quiet then, looking back at the door while Matt peered at everything skittishly.

"We can't take him" I said "you gotta put him in with social security or something…?"

"Kid is shifter" Matt finally spoke. "What you think will happen to him when he shifts in an orphanage?"  
>"Judie said his dad was a werewolf" I said but I knew the argument was pointless. They needed to ease their guilt about abandoning the child, and if we didn't take him he would end up being left on the street.<p>

"Everyone knows shifter genes is the strongest…" Matt said backing away. They had opened the door and left, running out and we were left perplexed with Judie's child in desperate need of a diaper change.

**AUTHORS NOTE:**

**The Shadow Beast is not Cain. All I can say is refer to They Set out to Kill Fate, Legends as a hint to what is to come!**

**A back story on Maria in detail seems unnecessary at the moment but that was quite interesting to think Lorraine could be the mother! Lol, she certainly seems like the type to give her child away if she had a child she didn't plan. I will say this, and as much as it saddens me… Emmett Cullen is truly gone.**

**Loves!**

**Kitkat**


	18. The Weak Shall Prey

**The Weak shall Prey**

My thought to remain in Volterra and the feeling behind it could not be trusted; could remaining with Aro and Caius truly rectify the evil I had committed? The evil I had unleashed?

I had no anchor to hold me from the unnaturalness of my predicament, I was tied to them; standing in the grand room lit up with candles and lanterns, with various antiques and memorabilia; I was, becoming part of the trio. My rage coiled, my skin tingled with violence; I did not want to be here, but I was a part of them and owed them too much.

"Carlisle?" Caius called.

Our eyes met and he could not hide his discomfort. I smiled, mildly ashamed at the pride inside me; it was such a sinful feeling to be satisfied by _his_ discomfort… his _fear_. I was not the same and the adjustment to that knowledge was taking forever to reach the two vampires… and in the eternity of the comprehension coming to them, I was untrusted.

Nahuel sat in a lush chair, bruised and ugly. It was him, Aro, Caius and I. His hair was dirty and clothes bloodied, there was no need for restraints on him; he was outmatched in strength and experience a thousand times over in our presence; he had no talents, and he had a beating heart.

There was a tray on his lap, laden with cakes and pastries; foods that Aro thought were appealing to the eye… but had not quite bothered to know of the value they would have to the human side of the half vampire.

"Carlisle?" Nahuel pleaded. He was weak and in pain, the entire left side of his torso deformed. A rib had not healed well, and the complications that were hidden in his body from all the beatings he had received should have rendered him dead…

But we had eternity to suffer, did we not? And as Caius and Aro had apologetically pointed out- a sign of compassion they had assumed I would need to see-Jane could not be permitted to break his will, as they wanted his mind to remain sane.

"Nahuel?" I held my hands behind my back, and smiled. He flinched, my smile had no kindness but amusement. We were all in a situation that had left us far removed from our natural disposition; my vengeance had come upon me once more and the thought that we could be safe, _somewhat_ safe… at least had elated me.

But that joy was clouded by the _Beast_.

I did not want to think about that, the demon. The hell hound, as it was; a demon I had unleashed upon the world. Why care for it, regardless? It was satisfied with humans and I had no sympathy for them, cruel little creatures.

As God had promised not to punish them for their wicked nature ever again… maybe Satan was doing the punishing on behalf of God? No floods this time around… or maybe, floods. A flood of blood…

"I would like to know of your thoughts, dear brother?" Aro crooned, reaching a hand out to me. I looked at his hand and frowned.

"I would like to know yours…" I smiled "But I can't"  
>"I see not how that affects me"<p>

"Maybe… I could call you brother if you felt as affected as I was" I said. "Besides, have you not seen it all?"

"You are quite the curious creature of late…" his smile was as wicked as I knew mine was, but his eyes shone insanity; different from my own but just as deadly. "Every second you are a different Carlisle"  
>"You think I have multiple personality disorder?"<p>

"I think so too" Caius murmured. He moved towards Nahuel, who blinked and shrunk into his seat, the tray shaking on his lap. Caius raised a pink frosted cake and sniffed. "Boy" he growled "You need surgery but you are too weak. Eat"

"He can't eat that" I laughed. "Nahuel, why do you not tell your _fathers _what it is you want to eat?"  
>"Fathers?" Nahuel forgot all his torture and frowned. I could see he wanted to say it, as he was not under the influence of Chelsea as yet.<p>

He wanted to deny it, to growl out how his only father was Joham.

But he did not and whimpered over his cakes.

"A steak and potatoes?" I asked him and he nodded, his knotted hair falling over his face.

The rage lurked in me, the anger coiling and oh so briefly as I saw Chelsea wisp by the door; I wanted to rush to her and break her neck… for all the good it would do, but the feel would be soothing… I was sure.

"What of my children" I asked Aro and he smiled sweetly, twirling his hand nonchalantly.

"Out and about, doing things for the greater good of vampires I presume" he smiled. Caius watched Aro closely as he stuffed Nahuel's mouth full of cake "I do want to ask you, Carlisle… although I saw it from Jane's mind, and you obviously did not understand what the hell you were doing mostly; but what is this business with the beast?"

I looked away.

"I mean…" Aro repositioned himself audaciously in front of me so I was forced to look into his eyes. "Why let out such a creature for _them_?"  
>"As you saw, I had no knowledge of what it was I was doing" I breathed. "I was under…"<br>"The human's instruction and she had threatened your immortality… and all of that" he said stoically. He was not pleased with my choice of reaction to my bereavement, downplaying his true anger at my contribution to Lorraine's cause. "And now, _they_ have a weapon that can compel _vampires_"  
>"I doubt anything can make use of that demon! It is no weapon, but the apocalypse…" I said. My voice had dropped, my heady retreat to this other side of me that did not <em>care <em>for much gone. I was me, I was my father's son… Esme's husband, Edward and Rosalie's father, Alice and Jasper…

Emmett's father. The father he had seen fit to save. I could feel it in my eyes, I was crying but no one would know.

"No one is safe" I said. "Do you think that Sulpicia and Athendora can survive that? Will Corin make them at peace with the Beast when it comes…?"

Caius appeared beside Aro and they both bared their teeth, growling low and eyes flashing. They could tear me limb from limb, easily… I had uttered words that no vampire dared voice; their precious _hidden_ wives.

"Brothers" I smiled "You have wives. I only speak as one without, having… failed to protect…" I could continue no longer, it had been an act but the truth of the words were real and felt.

"Of course…" Caius straightened out but the hate never left his eyes.

"We are both so sorry for your loss, Carlisle" Aro smiled, reaching out his hand for mine but I never obliged him. "Esme was to thank, for so much"

"She ended your visits to us" Caius smiled. "Her death is a sad one"

I felt cold inside, realizing all too clearly how similar the details of my fate were to Marcus.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

Jane liked being in control and leading, and although Jasper was mostly the soldier… he did not like having the final say on things. Besides that fact, with the factionalism happening within the Volturi; Jane needed allies, and it seemed her relation with Alec was not enough to ensure he would have her interest at heart… if it conflicted with his.

She was counting on our 'good and honor' to give us a sense of loyalty to her.

"An eye for an eye" she smiled, her little hand resting on the door frame as if to block Isabella and I from leaving. We were donned in black robes, our attire provided for by the Volturi; it was hard to think, but we had joined them. It was hard to think but we had needed a leader and I had failed.

She looked behind her, to nothing; to the sound of an elevator coming up, the sound of drunk male humans behind that sound and the soft ping when the elevator stopped on our floor. She frowned, as Isabella did and as I did; our distrust and dislike for humans was new and uncomfortable.

Jane contemplated on killing all four of them the moment they came into her view; on the grounds that they had seen her, pale as she was… young as she was, eyes as red as they were. She did not enter the room, refusing to act afraid; her pride would not let her.

One of them looked at her and smiled, before doubling over in agony and clutching his head, blood gushing from his nostrils.

"Jane" Isabella warned taking a step forward. It was my turn to hold the doorframe, blocking her. I may not have read her mind, but Jane's was enough; Jane thought on dragging the young man inside the room and killing him, feeding off him.

Jane looked back to me, the human's companions hefting him up and sobering as they dragged him to their room.

"Alcohol taints the blood" Jane puckered "Although, antibiotics make it lovely"

"Good to know" I grumbled "You have a gift for Forks?" I read her mind and she smiled, a little headache coming over me.

"You know I can't help the telepathy!" I snapped.

"Oh, yes… you did mention that, didn't you" she touched her finger to her chin and stopped her attack. I turned to look at Isabella who gave me an innocent gaze.

"Whose side are you on?" I growled at her.

"What?" Isabella blinked.

"You have a mental shield?" I frowned "You could have included me in it?"  
>"We are all on the same side" Isabella folded her arms and looked away from me.<p>

"Peter" Jane said. "That is my gift to Forks"

_And a sign to you that, besides what you think of me… I am not entirely cruel…_

"You kept him alive to save a purpose for yourself and Aro!" I snarled taking a step forward towards her so she pushed out into the hallway. Her large eyes widened, taken aback when I picked this out of her thoughts.

"Idiot!" she hissed and then she rushed to me-I blocked her with an arm, and she twisted it down lightly using it to brace herself upwards and cover my mouth with her other hand.

_Aro is unpredictable you idiot! He has no use of a shapeshifter that has freewill and has succumbed to depression. He has-by all vampire capabilities-forgotten of it. If you can be this careless, I dare say… you wont survive between the humans, that hellhound and the vampire war to come! I let you go to Forks with resources and enough the weight that not a goddamned question will be asked… and give you a puppy in a box, and you blab it into this treacherous air with this treacherous whore by your side…_

I cringed at her thoughts-especially at 'it', but removed her hand and lowered her from me.

_I care not for you and Isabella wishing to reignite your spark and quite frankly, the retrieval of all hybrids is in everyone's interest. What I care for, is your trust. You need me of current, and upon the time I need you… you better be there._

"Peter is still alive?" Isabella asked but neither Jane nor I replied her inquest. Jane was forming her allegiance with _me_; forming an alliance with Carlisle, the one she thought could come out on top in the vampire 'Game of Thrones'.

"As a result of _everything_" Jane took out an envelope from within her robe and placed it in my hand. "You may have to go by plane"

Xx~xx~xX

Isabella could not hide her satisfaction to Peter's survival, and I wished I could hear her thoughts; was she in the processes of atonement? Was this the retrieval of her humanity? My chest twisted mildly at the thought, a sudden off light in me; I had not forgotten what it had felt like, that first time I had fallen in love... I could never forget.

"I saved his mother" she said softly "Emily is alive because of me"

"I never forgot that part" I reminded her but her atmosphere then changed as we walked up to the withered shapeshifter. He was thin, skin pale and the whites of his eyes so clear; he had been kept hidden for so long, his phasing and the vampires neglect of supplying sufficient food evident.

His mind was broken, replaying the scene of Sam's death over and over. He looked up, saw Isabella and began to shiver and shake but neither Isabella nor I were afraid-he was much too weak. He was too weak to phase, huddled on the metal bench in the airport with a thin blanket around him. Every human that passed him looked at him with such abhorrence and the security guards kept lurking within view.

"Your mother is alive" Isabella told him but he scowled viciously at her, never believing her words.

"She really is alive" I said but my reaffirmation had no weight; I was a vampire. I looked away, ashamed at what he had been through but at least he was not a half vampire hybrid male. Nahuel's state had been astonishing when I had glimpsed it in Jane's mind.

"We leave for Forks" I told him and he stiffened.

_No…_ he thought. _They want to kill us all…!_

"I want to take you home, that is all" I sighed, reaching down to heft him up. He shifted away from my reach, suspicious and disgusted. The security personnel were watching us. "Isabella, could you dissuade the guard over there?" I asked.

"Dissuade?" she blinked.

"_Compel_" I elaborated and she frowned. "I see you are so used to _intimidating_ to get around to _coercion_?" I frowned.

"Whatever" she sauntered off, flicking her mahogany hair and attempted to flirt with the guard. Her vampirism allowed her to succeed where her words were stony and detached.

"There" I forced Peter to his feet and patted his back, wondering why he had not been given adequate clothing by Jane. He seemed to have walked out from his imprisonment with only the blanket and although he was still thankfully running hot, he wore tattered shorts in the cold weather.

In the thirty minutes, I had acquired clothing for him and he had changed and we were boarded on the plane side by side, with myself in the middle. Peter was plotting his escape, torn between going to Forks to ensure his mother really was alive… and saving his own life, if she wasn't.

I was unsure on what it was my intentions were any longer. How did I plan on saving Angela? Was she still… the same? Could I find her in the elusive town of Malwood? What if she had a life? Could I pry her from it…?

If I did not, they would come for her. What was at stake was too much, the very world was at stake and looking around in the airplane, and listening to the mundane thoughts I realized that reality was all a lie.

The world could not be saved in the face of such ignorance.

At least, not _all_ of it.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

I know he thinks I have been giving Charles my blood. I can see the suspicion in his eyes; the way he is watching me, watching us. Did he not understand, as Leah did; Charles being on venom could only help us if there was an attack at this point…?

It was draining for all of us who knew that he was far removed from his normal disposition but it wasn't the same, not this time and of course I would not want him to ever go back to that place… but I would want him to be strong. There was too much at stake; we could not be far removed from our instinct to survive, _Charles _could no longer be far removed from the imprint as he had previously been given the ability to do so by Leah.

He had admitted to his heart that it was Leah that he needed, and in that admittance his mind; both wolf and vampire, were settled; he had to be where she was. Unless of course, he would kidnap her…

I couldn't put it past him, as much as I trusted him to a degree… I knew what blood could do to me, what it had done to me when I had been so famished from it. That kind of addiction could control you…

His addiction to Leah was somewhat quenched and I did not think he had the ability Jacob had before, to suffer being away from me; even if he did run off, he would find himself back to her.

Double imprint… could it be their blessing, or curse in the future?

"He is worried about you" Charles said.

Charles sat shotgun, staring out the window and behind, in passenger Angela and Katherine were having an animated discussion on Forks. I could hear the fear in Angela's voice, even though her excitement bounced her words in a way that made me want to smile; would Forks be safe? Would it be untouched?

I placed my hand on his forearm, _He thinks I'll give you my blood._

Charles chuckled, and behind us the chattering ceased and Angela paid closer attention to us.

"He is confused" Charles sighed, rubbing his temple.

"Are we talking about Jacob?" Angela pushed herself forward between our seats, her scent wafting forward. Charles frowned at her head for a moment, annoyed as I was at the sudden movement and reminder that we were in the occupancy of two and a half blood-filled beings. He looked at me, gauging my reaction and saw that I had stiffened, I could feel how wide my eyes were.

She had taken me aback.

I moved too quickly, leaning into the door; too fast and with sudden strength, the movement a blur to Angela. The door groaned just the tiniest bit, and although I was no longer looking at the road, the car did not swerve. I counted back from two hundred and twelve, before opening the window and letting the air in.

"It's cold" Katherine complained but Charles, who was not as bothered by human blood as I was, opened his window to help out too. "Really guys…" Katherine's teeth chattered "I'm freezing up"

"Two minutes" Charles told her "Just want to get some fresh air in here"

Angela's eyes narrowed, her lips pursing shrewdly. "You need to hunt" she said but did not move back.

"I am aware of what I need to do" I said "But, instead of presuming to understand the nature of vampires can we not analyze me?"

"She is trying to be more dependent on human food now" Charles let what he thought was my secret out and I scowled at him. He smiled a little, that smile reminding me of my little boy who had a perpetual runny nose. I looked behind to the backseat, were Katherine was cuddling a clean baby Lance as if he were a teddybear. The boy seemed appreciative of the affection, only making occasional sounds to remind us of his existence.

"I thought… blood made you stronger" Angela's face puckered in confusion "Why would you want to be weak at a time like this?!"

"Blood also makes me weaker…" I said thinking back to my last attempted kill; a dog that had died and never been drained. I needed to focus on being human because the vampire in me was back on the harder stuff after Malwood. After Jacob's blood "At a time like this"

I didn't think it was wise to have two addicts in our party…  
>"Oh come on!" Angela fell back exasperated "Still trying to impress Jake? He doesn't care that you..."<p>

She didn't get a chance to finish.  
>I growled at her, low and dangerous. Katherine was alarmed when I was not watching the road any longer, Baby Lance's eyes went wide and began to water; Angela shrunk in her seat, her face paling before she remembered I would never <em>actually<em> hurt her.

I turned my attention back to the road, checking the review mirror to make sure Jacob was driving behind us.

Lance began to bawl, hard and with an energy that defied his weak form and Katherine immediately gave him to Angela-who knew very little about babies.

"Stop the car!" Angela yelled over Lance's wailing and I ignored her for ten minutes while Charles, who was trying to remember all his vampire-lessons with Papa, cringed into his seat at the hollering of the child.

"Please, Nessie…" Charles breathed "Mum, stop the car!"

"I can't stop here, can't you see!" I said fast. "We'll stop at the gas station. Give him the bottle, Angela…"  
>"The milk is out!" Angela was panicking, bouncing the child awkwardly with fear in her eyes.<p>

"Well then" I wasn't bothered by the noise so much; a loud baby was a healthy baby, Charles had taught me that during his wheezing years. "We'll have to wait, now wont we"

Xx~xx~xX

We were in Forks within the hour, pulling in and forming a convoy into the town. I was unsure on where to go, before Charles suggested Charlie's place; Charlie, who had failed to escape the supernatural at each turn. His place formed a sort of neutral ground and it would be wise to be there; right now keeping away would have the opposite effect of keeping him safe.

The cars split up, each wolf probably eager to be with their families (the family that was left, in our eternity at least), after the chaos we had endured. Jacob remained tailing us, Leah probably in the car with him all the way up to the front of Charlie's house. Angela and Katherine got out, Lance had tired himself out with his wailing and I took him carefully from Angela. It all looked the same, Bella's ancient truck peeked out from the corner of the house while a new modern SUV sat where Charlie's police car would have been.

"Is it safe?" Angela asked softly and I had to smile at that. Whispering would prove pointless if there were vampires inside; they would have heard the cars long ago, and if there were humans, they would have heard Katherine bang the door shut.

"Yeah, I guess it's as safe as we could expect" I smiled. The front door opened, and a plump old Charlie walked out with Sue Clearwater behind him eyeing us suspiciously. They tentatively exited the house but when Sue saw Leah and Seth, she shuffled surprisingly fast to her children and clung onto their necks, pulling them into a group hug.

Charlie had none of that affection for Charles and I, giving me a wary look and gasping when his eyes focused on Charles. "Kid" he pointed a shaking finger at his great-grandson "'sthat you?" he poked Charles chest, who made no reaction save for a patient smile. He nodded once to answer Charlie but said nothing more.

Charlie had none of that affection for Charles and I but when he saw Jacob Black, he let out an odd happy chuckle and hugged Jacob. Jacob hugged him appreciatively and laughed "What happened to being a tough cop?"

"Eh?" Charlie leaned away, looking around at everyone. "Ms Weber? Now how did you find yourself...?" he didn't finish, shaking his head. "Jake...?" Charlie pointed at Lance in my arms as he called Jacob "Is that err, did you two...?"

"NO!" Jacob and I said in unison.

"Charlie..." Sue came over to us, her face bright and eyes moist "They have a lot to tell us. And we have quite a bit to tell them too... don't we?"


	19. Holding On

**HOLDING ON**

**Xx~xx~xX**

**Xx**

**You only realize you are holding on, when you let go.**

**x**

**RENESME**

The kitchen, which had always been of a reasonable size, was cramped. Paul and Rachel were here, sandwiching a large Billy, Embry stood with his mother and Emily-who had, against better judgment returned to La Push and had been living with Embry's mother (Jacob had whispered in my ear that the strangeness of that, came in the fact that Emily's mother-in-law, Sam's mother, had not been on good terms with Embry's mother at all).

Katherine sat shyly in the lounge, turning her head every now and then. The atmosphere was overwrought and watching them all standing with their families I realized the amount of trauma we had gone through. It was like the wolves were back from a war; none of them the same.

Charlie's kitchen had no food cooking in it. We had only had the initial night to be alone in the house with Sue and Charlie; Leah had immediately left to find Emily, upon hearing Emily had returned to Forks besides the danger.

I stood at the door, still very much at the rim of their circle but at the rim did not mean outside and I was fine with that. The wolves had come from a war and of myself? I looked back into the lounge, were Charles sat silently and unmoving and I smiled; was it so pathetic that this had been more stable than my 'teen' years? I didn't feel a hollowness in my chest, or that freezing coiling of the wild vampire in me calling me to be damned with my humanity. I was starved but functional, the regular level of depressed but… Charles and Jacob were with me.

When I turned back to listen more intently to the conversation in the kitchen, Jacob caught the smile that was still on my face. He smiled back and it made my insides heat up, like that hollowness could never return.

At least, that loneliness would never be as devastating as it had been, all those years ago.

"…I mean, Jake buddy…" Paul was on the verge of tears, Rachel's eyes were red and moist as it was and Billy, although happy to see his parents, looked like he would rather be outside… in the woods, in wolf form… with the other phased wolves and Atka. He was no longer their little boy, I thought. He had turned into a man and not in the conventional sense that humans under stood; but in the sense of his wolf being.

Paul and Rachel gave their thanks again and in it all, Rachel even managed a friendly smile for me. It took me by shock and I forgot to smile back, but she didn't linger on my awkwardness; hugging her large son and patting his long hair back. Emily watched all of this silently and I didn't dare look at her; she had always tried to be kind to me in some way or manner, but after everything… she would have nothing but ice for me.

I quietly excused myself and went to the lounge. Katherine sat on the couch with a bored looking Maria, the television was on but put on mute and Maria held the remote absently in her hand.

"Trying to remember how to enjoy TV" Maria said detached. She was flicking through the channels fast, occasionally stopping when she spotted something she might find interesting. "Trying to remember how to be normal"

"At least you have a memory of 'normal' to go back to" I told her, as pleasantly as I could manage. I tapped Charles shoulder and his green eyes looked up at me, with no emotion in them.

_Would you like to go try and hunt?_

"No" he puckered his lips and stared back at the television.

I sighed.

"Let's go" I was stern but gentle too and with that he looked up at me again, emotion visible in his eyes and that emotion pirouetted, challenged.

"Does it bother you that I have it under better control than you?" he said and I blanched. I looked up and met Jacob's eyes. Jacob and Maria had heard Charles; Katherine was too busy trying to listen in on Seth and Sue.

It didn't matter that not many had heard, the relevance of the people in my little audience was enough; how Maria would rejoice at that and the revelation shaming coming from one's son. I gave it up, with nothing to say to Charles-what could be said that was of consequence in that moment regardless?

He looked back at the television as though he hadn't seen the hurt scribbled red on my face. Jacob took two large steps, Charles making a show of ignoring him while Maria shrewdly got up from her seat. The chatter in the kitchen was loud enough, and in one blow Jacob punched the side of Charles head so he fell over on the couch in shock.

He was unharmed as he was much stronger than Jacob was at the moment and his eyes were green fire and lips curled over his teeth and he let out a loud hiss… that was difficult for even the congregation in the kitchen to ignore.

Jacob growled back at Charles, Charles then rose up and curled his fingers into a fist.

"You do not discipline my son…" I told Jacob coolly and walked over to Charles and promptly slapped him. He was shocked by that, the animal in him retreating so fast so that he gave me a comically _wounded_ expression.

We had an audience then but I didn't care.

"…when he is in human form" I finished walking out.

Xx~xx~xX

It was like dealing with a drug addict, I suppose; he could be himself, sweet and compassionate. Or he could turn one hundred and eighty and be _so _cruel. The only one who seemed unphased by his mood swings was Leah; who he had hurled insult and curse at but had shaken it off easily.

Jacob said it was important to teach him that there was hierarchy and never permit him to step over it; Jacob had as a result, grouped Angela, Maria, Katherine and myself in a box that seemed to be labeled 'Smacks will Occur', while everyone else who was really just the pack had an inborn instinct to know and defend the hierarchy on their own.

The wolves had it easy, they had no fear of their instincts and I envied that. They could just 'be', and in their hierarchy system… a lot was revealed about dispositions and strength, simple things that they could not run from or deny.

This meant that Charles and Billy did not really like each other and Embry and Seth and the older wolves were prone to want to snap at Charles, while Charles was crafty about how he approached Leah, Jacob and Atka who had either a no-nonsense attitude with him or… as was with Leah, she did not care about the bad moods at all.

It was all smiles and sunshine for her.

I hadn't seen her that happy since Charles was still… human. It was strange for her to be happy in the middle of this but I supposed it was the same as what was going on with me; an equilibrium had formed in the middle of the chaos. What was a snappy Charles if he was, still a Charles?

I wondered what they would say after I had left about the little performance? Before, it would have been how bad a mother I was… but back then Jacob wouldn't have smacked Charles at all; if Leah did it… and what a strange imprinter she was, as she had done so at times, no one would have thought anything of it because she _loved_ Charles.

God forbid his mother smack him, that hateful murdering hybrid…

I really should let it go but I was cranky and Charles was right…I was not holding up very well with the hunting. I was currently scared of going into the woods; I had a new found phobia with _trees._ I didn't think I was any danger to humans but then, the only humans I had interacted with I had preprogramed my mind from when I was a toddler not to think of too easily as _delicious; _Charlie and Leah, and the rest of Jacob's tribe.

Katherine's scent-as with the scent of those infected by werewolfs-was tangy. Dominic's was unappealing entirely as a possible source of blood; I would be parched beyond insanity to consider him and Annabelle was simply _unpredictable _a prey. Maria…

Oh, she smelt _lovely _as was with hybrids and her being more human made her smell like the perfect insolent dessert; killing her would hurt no one, her death would solve so many unanswered questions as well as remove her from my sights…

I knocked on Angela's door twice, my throat itching. I backed away from the door two considerable steps and questioned my wisdom on coming here instead of just going to the house alone. I was afraid of Forks, strangely so when I should feel safer here; we had uncovered so much on the power of ancient tribes hadn't we? The reservation was the safest place for us right now and Charlie and Sue were moving there today, everyone was at the house to help with the packing. The wolves were truthfully more concerned with their tribe and were not going to stretch their perimeter at all.

Angela opened the door and rubbed her eyes sleepily; she was in a baggy t-shirt and sweat pants with her hair tied up in a messy bun above her head.

"Ness?" she asked groggily.

"You can't still be sleeping" I rushed into her home, it was dark and stuffy. All the curtains drawn in the lounge while the credits of some series or movie she had been watching were playing on the plasma. She followed me back in absently "Angela…" I pulled the curtains open and she hissed catlike, her hands going over her eyes. "It is three in the afternoon!"

"Give me a mother fucking break!" she snarled, rushing to the curtains and shutting them back shut violently. She turned around, her eyes puffy "I have been sleeping in the wilderness for how many weeks? Is it months? I had my face whacked!?" she pointed at her relatively healed face "And I am back in my family home!"

She flayed her hands around her at the modest home. "All the years of my life and I find myself back, with nothing to show for it but a butt that hurts from riding on giant wolves. I'm going to watch all of the Grey's Anatomy series I missed, sleep and repeat the same procedure until I die!" she finished her rant by plopping herself on the couch and cuddling the blue blanket around her, pulling half of it off of the floor.

She retrieved the remote from somewhere within the blankets, clicked next and the next episode came onto the screen. She began munching crisps, ignoring me where I stand.

"I wanted to go to the house and see if there was anything of value still there. Esme had packed it all up" I didn't bother sitting, watching her. I was unsure if she had heard me.

"Sometimes I think it is so strange to think Esme is gone" she said after a moment. She turned the show off and flung the blanket off of her theatrically. "Fine" she grumbled.

"Why are you staying here?" I asked her as we walked out. She had a new car, a small boring Toyota and she held the keys possessively as we walked to it, eyeing me suspiciously as if I would take them from her.

I had thought to do so but I preferred Angela to be agreeable today.

"Where else would I stay?" she muttered, she shut her heavy door hard, sticking the key in the ignition and flipping the viser down. She frowned when she saw no mirror and opted to move her review mirror to face her. She rubbed her eyes once and pressed her lips together.

"You could have stayed on the Reservation" I said "It is safer. The wolves are not patrolling outside the Reservation perimeter"  
>"I'll do fine on my own" she was unperturbed, still frowning at her reflection. "I look so tired" she turned to look at me and frowned hard "You look annoyingly good for someone who hasn't slept in… how long? I been asleep for <em>hours<em> and I look like shit!" she started the car angrily. "Damn vampires and wolves!"

"You overslept" I told her, strapping the seatbelt on in a show so she would strap her own seatbelt on. She did, unthinkingly and I smiled to myself; if I had told her to strap on her seatbelt… I'd get some 'terminator' remarks "And you don't look like shit" I said "Your wounds have healed rather well. You do look very puffy and you lost the weight you gained in the cabin…"

She momentarily moved her eyes from the road to look at me and smile, "I lost some weight?"

"I don't think it looks good" I said signaling her to slow down least she miss the hidden turn off. "And you smell as stuffy as your house. You should take a shower when we get back, and then a bubble bath…"

"Are you saying I stink?" she growled.  
>"I said you should take a shower and a bath"<p>

"Whatever" she snapped, parking her car in reverse. "What do you know anyway…?"

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**EMBRY**

Embry was shocked to find that Emily and his mother had some sort of understanding; he couldn't call it a friendship, but it was… something, and in it he saw a side of his mother he had never known.

Embry had grown up with a complex; understandably so given the mental state his mother had been left with when she had moved to Forks and had been met with a hard truth…

"Embry" she touched his hand tentatively and Embry stared at it; it was spotted and wrinkled, the nails too long. Her hand shook over his own and she was about the only person on the reservation who wasn't a pale face but was lighter than he was. His complexion had never bothered him until after he had phased; he had simply assumed his father, whoever he could have been at the time was… Caucasian or something, and this assumption had kept his thoughts from speculating on the fathers of his friends.

Talking to his mother had never been easy and _not _talking to her was something he had become accustomed to but when he had returned from all his adventure… he had returned to a different woman. One who had quit drinking but not smoking, one who could sew rather well (he never knew this) and one who had been hurt.

Not the hurt that she had always accused him of inflicting, no… the hurt that had happened before he had been born, the hurt she had experienced before she had turned bitter. The hurt that she could now confess after helping Emily grieve her son and husband and connecting with someone in Forks finally after so many decades.

"Your father is Billy Black" she told him. He sighed deeply and covered her hand with his larger one, it disappeared but he could feel the shaking; she was shaking not because of age, his mother was adamantly fit despite living the alcoholic life she had, but because she was nervous.

"I know" he told her. She was shocked by this, her mouth hanging open. "I mean, I thought it was Sam's dad for a while… I mean, I had these odd memories of him from when I was a kid but then… I figured it out"

"How?" she asked. She looked so afraid. He had never seen that on her. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"It doesn't matter" he told her.

She let out the breath, never opening her eyes and he never released her shaking hand. "You went" she said and he caught the wobble in her voice and it was his turn to be afraid. He had seen her cry, but it was always the angry sort of crying; a fearsome violence and that cry he had never been as afraid of as he was of the one about to come unobtrusive and timidly before him now.

"You just…went" she said and a tear dropped that she wiped quickly away with her other hand. "Not a word. I thought maybe I was too drunk to remember if you had said something..." she stopped, looking wistfully away from him when she opened her eyes. "I was angry, you know how I got… back then"

He smiled at 'back then'. It meant it was in the past and he hoped it would stay there.

"And anyway, you were gone for so long and I noticed you know… Rachel's son was gone too and some of the other boys too" she began crying and he squeezed her hand. "I thought you just went off with them and I hated you like I hated well, Billy but then the thought that you would never come back changed me…"

She paused and gulped, calming herself. "I really hated Billy…" she said slowly "He used me" she stuttered "And he said he would… be your father but he didn't want me. He wouldn't do that to his _wife…_"

"What?" Embry almost shouted this out but somehow, he didn't and this allowed his mother to continue with the confession.

"He only wanted you!" she cried. "Like I'd give my child up to some woman…!"

This time, Embry remained silent.

"I wasn't showing yet when I came here and I was hurt. I thought he… you know, loved me. So I slept with Sam's dad and let Billy find out and… well, that put an end to all that talk of giving you up. And guess who was willing to leave his wife for me? That _drunkard_ and not _good _Billy!"

Embry couldn't talk.

"I may not be the best mother but I never would give you up" she reassured him.

"Ouch!" she yelped pulling to free her hand from his grip. She got free and rose up, wiping her tears and looking at him with a plea. "Embry? I am so…"

She was about to tell him she was sorry but he couldn't move, blurring and bubbling. His hand was shaking and eyes glowing. He had never 'lost' it in front of her and had been exceptionally good at controlling it even when he was a new pup…

He got up, still shaking and her eyes were saucers in her head. He was in rage-mode, but in the background he knew it was his mother. He started backing up and when she made to come closer to him, crying out how sorry she was… he phased between the door; ripping the frame and toppling outside as a wolf. He rose to all fours and looked back up, afraid he had hurt her.

He thought of Emily's grieving scarred face and felt sick. In his mind, there were other wolves but he was too lost in an odd high of instinct and emotion.

She stood in the torn-up doorway, unharmed with her hands covering her mouth and tears running down her face. He left her like that, and ran through the trees, ignoring the wolves, and made his way to his old apartment.

Xx~xx~xX

He tried not to think about his mother's words as he rummaged through his things for something to wear. He had done well for himself before he went off with Jacob and Leah and he was proud of that fact; he had managed to keep his mother afloat while he was AWOL, hadn't he?

He was naked and trying to find that thin line in his anger, the line they all had to grab onto to remain in control of the wolf. The Leash.

He didn't think he should be as upset as he was, he had always thought that Sam's dad was his dad thanks to a few awkward memories of the man at his house doing and saying awkward things that a little kid could never sum up to anything but… awkward adults.

He had found out that Billy was his real dad later on, suspected was more accurate a word but hey, he had done it on his own? He had lived through all the shame and awkward social situations on his own while his mother had hidden behind alcohol.

So why was he upset?

"I need…" he closed his eyes, feeling the buttons of the shirt as he did them up. He could still see her crying, he could still see her weird fear and concern when she saw that he had burst into a wolf.

"I need a drink" he opened his eyes and looked in the mirror. He had shaved the sides of his head and trimmed the hair on top, tying it into a bun on the top of his head. His beard was trimmed too. When he had woken up in the morning, he had been in a good mood, and Leah's comment that she "Loved the bun" had only confused him momentarily on whether it was a complement or insult, when he had seen Annabelle-frowning-Erikson blush at his new look.

He had woken up determined to have a good night today, that involved seeing his mother and enjoying the bonfire later on and… getting laid. He decided he would start on the drinking relatively early, and took the car keys off of their hook and got out of the apartment.

When he tried the car, not only was the back tire flat but the engine wouldn't let out even a cough.

"Cool, calm and collected" Embry closed his eyes to calm down but all he saw was his mother's anguished face confessing how selfish she had been, how she had denied him a good home (at least, much better than the one he had had), and denied him a father, a brother and sisters.

But what was worse, and what made him sick to his core was… he thought he would also have had a good mother… who wasn't her. He punched his car door and it dented, the window fissuring and his reflection on the glass revealing amber eyes.

He closed his eyes, disgusted with himself.

He would make it to the store and back on foot easy.

Xx~xx~xX

X

Xx~xx~xX

**RENESME**

"I remember coming here for Bella's birthday party" Angela sighed. "And wedding"

The house was almost completely empty and dusty, and seemed so much larger now. I sat in the middle of the piano room, where the piano once stood and let the memories wash over me. It all seemed like a lie now; one big charade, not by family but by mother.

I wished she would have just divorced my father and left me with him, gone off to fulfill all her ambitions. I may have hated her but I wouldn't be so… damaged. I wondered how damaged I had made Charles? Was it too late for me to… be his mother? He could be patient with me at times, and I thought maybe he was humoring me out of pity but in silent moments, he would think of Leah as mother.

"Silly" I laughed. Angela stopped chattering and looked at me, waiting for me to elaborate but I waved it off and she resumed her talking. Silly, if he thought of her as mother then they wouldn't have gotten to the point they had now.

I couldn't imagine what it was like dealing with two separate strains of instinct in you; aggression of a wolf and the cruelty of vampirism.

There were things strewn around on the floor, some things belonged to Esme that I had found in the boxes in the garage. but I kept a lovely dress she had worn twice; it had been that lovely, as Alice was against us wearing evening dressed more than once.

The things on the floor were of all my aunts and uncles, the things that were of no value to anyone but me.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I took it out, checking the caller id. I answered, sighing "Jacob?"

"Are you with Angela?" he immediately asked.

"Yes she is safe" I answered and Angela frowned at me viciously, mouthing that I was not her babysitter.

"Is she safe from… you too" he asked careful but straight to the point. I looked at her and smiled, waving at her and she flipped the middle finger at me before holding up an expensive dress contemplatively and pressing it on her body, looking down at its form.

"The only reason Charles is in control is because there is no venom-filled beings running around the place to tempt him" I snapped "Just because…" I didn't finish when I realized Angela was now paying attention. I got up and moved swiftly to the empty lounge, standing by the window "Have I ever attacked anyone?" I asked him.

"Well, no…" he said and then chuckled lightly "Only me?"

I snapped my jaw shut, blood rushing to my face.

"Why haven't you… hunted yet? There is bigger game here? Charles was sorry for what he said and he told me you like.. that err, _vampires_ prefer predators and that would be a better and more satiating choice for you?"

I remained quiet and he charged on.

"Where are you?"

"The house" I said. For a moment he didn't know what I meant but then he sighed.

"There is no one that far out, Ness" he said seriously.

"I am getting some stuff and I'll be right back…" I sighed.

"And the hunting?" he asked.

I was getting angry now "I am with Angela, you want me to drag her along…"

"You could leave her at the Reservation…"

"She doesn't want to be at the Reservation or at the bonfire" I snapped.

"That's not good… it's not safe" he said, pausing and then he sighed. "I can't force her. Will you hunt?"

"Maybe" I played with my hair, staring out to the trees. I felt them stare back, I was sure. "It's…" I said slowly, my voice dropping "Scary in the woods"

He went silent, and for a moment I thought he would start laughing but he didn't.

"I know what you mean" he breathed. "I'll meet you at Angela's and we'll go together"

Xx~xx~xX

We were hiking through the woods.

Jacob had been in wolf form half the journey before opting to turn back to his human form. I suspected something in the wolf link had caused his choice of form but said nothing of it. He jogged swiftly up in silence for a moment while I paced myself with him. We were deep enough and the trees were large, thickly knit in some areas and spread out in other areas. It was so different form the woods of Malwood, the trees and the many rocks and different plants but I was still anxious.

"What did you tell Angela when you left?" he asked. We had slowed, casually walking through the trees while I sniffed the air occasionally and checked for tracks.

"About?"

"Where you and I are going?" he asked softly.

"Nothing" I frowned at him. "I just left her in her house, she resumed Grey's Anatomy and I got out"  
>He kept quiet then, pulling at a bush and breaking of a twig. He started playing with it self-consciously.<p>

"Why?" I demanded, stopping and facing him.

"She hinted I should you know, go into the woods with you" Jacob mumbled, refusing to look at me.

"Right" I was pissed now. "What does _she_ know about hunting? What do _you_ even know about hunting?"

"I have hunted a couple of times!" he defended and I scoffed at him.

"As a wolf?" I smiled wickedly "How can that ever compare to a vampire?"

He silenced then, twirling his twig furiously.

"I am not losing control!" I growled "I am a functioning…"

"Addict" he finished quietly.

"Have I ever attacked anyone?" I asked again and he looked away. "Your impression of vampires needs to change"

"It has" he said.

"Look, just stay here" I said "I'll go a little up ahead. I smell something. I'll come back when I am done"

"Wait I thought…" he began and I shushed him.

"You are most certainly _not _being near me in that form while I hunt"

"I can change!" he sounded like a child that was being denied a treat.

"This is not Nat Geo…" I hissed and he was about to contest to that when I shushed him again "Vampire hunting is not that simple. So just sit here whether you are a _dog _or not, and I'll come back"

"Sure, sure…" I heard him say, but my fear had abated in the midst of his childishness and the release into my instinct was almost instantaneous and sweet. I guessed the mountain lion population had increased somewhat in the absence of the Cullens.

Xx~xx~xX

He had been watching me, of course but I forgot all about my self-consciousness when I began tracking the lion. He had been wise enough to return to his wolf form during the hunt, but he had also been down wind and I had allowed the lion to do its fair share of damage, moving further from him.

He had returned to human form now, inching slowly towards me and watching me as I wiped and licked its blood off of my hands and mouth. I must have been quite the savage sight to him but I didn't care, the blood barely appealing in the wake of what I remembered last of _his_ blood_._

"I don't get why you would bring her even after Annabelle's warning" I said.

He didn't answer me, looking away even though he knew exactly who I meant.

"She may have value?" I scoffed "What value would she have if she leads death to Rachel and Paul's door?"

His face changed, darkened and his eyes flashed. Now I knew where Charles had learnt to make fire dance in his eyes, at least. "You wanted us to abandon her?"  
>"Not just me!" I said.<p>

"We had no proof but Annabelle's words!" Jacob shook his head.

"And you had no other feelings on the matter besides the fact that you kissed her!" I laughed and his frown intensified. "But you are the _Alpha…_" I mocked "what can us mere _immortals_ do but listen when you say we can't harm a _hair_ on _pretty_ little Maria's head?" I danced around him, feeling alive with the blood swimming in me. I was still in attack mode, senses alert and I could smell his skin, his scent… I could remember how his blood had tasted.

"Can I harm a hair anywhere else?" I teased and he growled low but I didn't heed his warning, and continued. "A hair on her _leg_? Maybe further up…"

It was a full on snarl with amber eyes now and I stopped, satisfied.

"Do you feel guilty then?" I asked. "Is that what all this is?"

"All this?"  
>"You being here"<p>

He sighed, calming before taking a look at the lion. It wasn't a pretty sight as it had fought rather violently for its life, and I had to restrain those defenses crudely; as much as half-vampire skin was resilient it had its limit and I had a faint line were the cat could have torn through a human's skin.

"Or did you want to make sure I didn't attack any hikers?" I tilted my head.

He smiled then, and that bothered me a lot. He took several steps towards me, standing right in front of me and said "It's like you said isn't it Ness" he touched the torn up blouse I was wearing and I realized that it hung like confetti on my shoulders and I may as well have been prancing about in the green bra I wore underneath.

"What?" I folded my arms over my chest and he dropped his inspection of my tattered garment.

"You've never lost control with a human" he stopped smiling but he wasn't frowning either, his eyes seemed nervous. "Just with me" he took another step forward and tugged at the blouse but I didn't remove my hands from across my chest.

He sighed then, removing his own t-shirt (he had taken the hassle of tying not only shorts, but sneakers and a t-shirt on himself), and handing it to me. I looked at it suspiciously.

He sighed again and with the t-shirt in one hand, he began removing the tattered blouse while I clung onto my nerves adamantly. He tore it in places and released it from my body in silence, never looking at my bust.

"I like you" he whispered. I couldn't breathe, blinking dumbfounded. "And I am sorry if my _conscious_ makes you think otherwise. I couldn't just leave her because you didn't like her and Annabelle had some witchy theory with no proof"

I said nothing and it frustrated him. He tugged my hand and I let them come free. He raised them over my head and put the t-shirt on me, its smell suffocating me with pleasure while my heart thrummed. The t-shirt was on and I knew I was blushing furiously.

"Say something?" he asked.

"Annabelle and my self's suspicions…" I began and he growled.

"I said I like you!" he breathed, taking a dangerous step forward. He was going to kiss me, I could see it and I wanted to tell him not to because all I could hear was his heart beating, and all I could smell was his blood flowing, and my emotions were getting the better of me and I wanted him to kiss me so I could kiss him back and…

And maybe, take a little taste?

But he never did kiss me, and I never did get that little taste because he froze and looked right past me over my head and said, "Isabella"

"Huh?" I turned around and behind us, as dead as the lion was my mother. She was drenched in black, her brown hair tied back in a pony. I automatically hissed at her and she looked at me apologetically, raising her hand.

"No fighting, Renesme" she half pleaded but mostly scolded.

"Fuck you!" I spat.

"Renesme!" my father appeared beside her. "Do not speak to your mother that way!"

Xx~xx~xX

To say the run out of the woods was the strange would be modest.

It was nothing but silence except for Papa and a wolf-Jacob having a dialogue only they knew about. Once we reached the main road, Jacob phased back and got dressed and led the way to the car.

"I think you are brainwashed" he continued his odd conversation with Papa while my mother looked guilty in her Volturi garb. I agreed with Jacob silently, looking over to Papa's similar robe.

"A lot has happened…" Edward breathed.

"For us too!" Jacob growled. He opened the car door and started the engine but didn't jump inimmediately.

"I…see" Edward sighed. "No casualties. You are an amazing leader and protector, Jacob Black"

Jacob didn't make any comment to the compliment and snarled, "I seriously would rather you take _her_ back to the Vultures!"

I sniggered unwillingly at this, much to Jacob's confused delight.

"Jake, do you trust me?" Edward implored.

Jacob remained silent but his thoughts gave him away and Edward continued swiftly, "Isabella and I are here for Charles and Renesme. The Volturi do not know we are here except for… Jane and my family. We have had to stick with them in light of what has happened"

"So _much_ has happened" Isabella sighed and Jacob made a derogatory sound at the sound of her voice. She frowned but continued, mildly annoyed "Carlisle is part of the trio, Marcus has been disposed"

"What!" I hissed. "Never, Carlisle would never…!" I began but then I remembered the dress I had taken with me from the boxes, all the mementos I had stored in Angela's garage now. So much had changed, hadn't it?

"And Emmett" Edward breathed, closing his eyes while Isabella looked away. "He is no more"

Jacob and I were speechless at that, and although I was no telepath to determine if in fact my father had been brainwashed or not, I felt a prick in my heart that was too real to deny him his words. We drove in silence back into Forks, Jacob suggesting that Edward and I stay with Angela since she had been stubborn about living under the protection of the Reservation.

Although he really did not need to, Jacob dropped us off in front of Angela's house. Something about the whole drive was surreal; in a car with my father and mother, and former imprinter-vampires being escorted…

"Jacob" Isabella stopped him from driving off momentarily. "Peter should be home"

"Peter?" Jacob blinked. "As in, Peter Uley…?"

Isabella nodded and we watched Jacob drive off to the bonfire.

"Angela may not be too pleased with your presence" my father said suddenly.

"She may not be too pleased with _either _of your presences" I mumbled, wiping my eyes. I had been crying the whole drive. "Please leave"

"Ness?" Edward sighed and I let him hug me, overwhelmed with seeing him again… even my mother but the pain I felt in losing Emmett without ever saying a goodbye? I pushed him away gently and smiled.

"I'll be okay" I sighed. "And thank you, both of you…" I pushed the sob down. "For being here"

Xx~xx~xX

Angela had obviously not noticed that vampires had been outside her house, or that a car had been briefly parked outside. She opened the door tetchily, and let me in, grumbling about not wanting to go to the bonfire.

The house was still dark, darker so with the daylight gone and her Grey's Anatomy was still on. It looked like she had not moved, except there were more snack packets around the couch. She went back into her spot, pulling her blanket up while I sat on the other couch.

"Aren't you going to the bonfire?" she asked.

"No" I said.

"Why?" she stuffed her mouth full of crisps and I almost didn't hear her, "Aren't you afraid Maria will steal your man?"

"No" I answered her although I wasn't one hundred percent sure. He said he liked me, not that he didn't like Maria…

"Wh…?" Angela almost choked, coughing out the crisps. "You said no?"  
>"Yes, I said no"<p>

"Well…" she smiled in the dark. " I thought you had taken a blow when he insisted we take _her_ with us"

"Yes, I had" I said.

"What happened?" she asked obtrusively.

"He likes me"

"Duh, but _what_ happened?" she insisted.

"He _said_ that he liked me"

"_Boring_" she gave me a fake yawn. "I wanted some fireworks…!"

"It's not Grey's Anatomy" I sulked "This is real life"

"It's a giant wolf and a vampire girl" she threw crisps at me. "Planets must collide…!"

I didn't give her a chance to continue, deciding to ruin her night in one swift blow. "Edward and Isabella are around" I said and she began choking on her crisps once more, but this time it was life threatening and I had to intervene.

When she had calmed and started breathing properly, I added "And Emmett has died"

She had never gotten attached to the vampires as she had the wolves, only ever interacting fully with Esme and Carlisle and maybe Alice when she had been dragged into our chaos. Her pain was only that I was in pain, I knew this but I hid it well. The cry in the car would have to do, because there were better ways to remember Emmett forever than in tears.

I asked her a few questions on the plotline and eased her back into being her normal self but she never fully recovered; I was unsure on whether it was because I had told her of Emmett's death, Isabella's presence or Edward's arrival in Forks.

Before she went to bed, she did however take a shower and followed it up with a bath.

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X

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**EMBRY**

The bonfire had been a blaze.

So much had happened and so much joy and sadness that it had spun Embry's brain around. He was really drunk and no longer out of control of the wolf, mostly due to the fact that the wolf didn't seem to handle his liquor as well as the human could.

It was late, very late and the people had dispersed. There was still some music and Leah had convinced Maria and Katherine to join in her fun, with a few other girls and a reluctant stiff Annabelle. Embry watched her silently, amused by her drunken but still sexy dancing. He went up to her and took her a little away from her friends and spun her around three times before Charles 'appeared' by them.

"Leave" Charles ordered Embry and the drunken wolf in Embry sluggishly woke up inside him.

He poked Charles chest hard and spat, "You leave… spawn!"

"Embry!" Leah pushed Charles out of the way and shoved Embry hard. "What the fuck is wrong with you!?"

"Who the fuck does that demon think he is ordering…?!" Embry began but he didn't get a chance to finish when Leah's fist connected with his face and he stumbled backwards but never fell, thankfully never phasing. It stung but both of them were drunk and Embry knew Leah's right hook was the stronger one. He rubbed his nose a little and raised his hand in defeat.

"Okay I am sorry" he muttered "And drunk. I had a long day…" he sighed. "Tell the kid to put the teeth away, they creep me out"

"Put the teeth away" Leah told Charles absently and Charles stopped snarling, weaving his arm around Leah's waist and preventing her from going over to Embry. "Em?"

"I'm cool" he raised his hand, before throwing the beer bottle into the night, deciding he had had enough to drink. When he focused his vision again, he made out Leah and Charles standing as one and… the girls hovering over one of their own who was kneeling in the sand.

"What the fuck?" Leah sighed, releasing herself from Charles. She knelt by Annabelle who was on all fours now on the ground, moaning in pain with a bleeding nose.

"What happened?" Embry asked.

"She just got like a nose bleed or something?" Maria said while hoisting Annabelle up on her feet. "I'll take her home" Maria told Leah, who instantly sobered up and eyed Maria suspiciously.

"NO!" Annabelle cried, freeing herself from Maria and hobbling into a perplexed Katherine.

"Katherine is practically sleeping in Seth's bed, Annabelle?" Maria frowned while Katherine squeaked out how it wasn't like that "The Black house is a full house…?"  
>"I'll take her" Embry sighed retracting his decision to be sober. "I'll take her to the hospital first though"<p>

"Here" Leah handed him the keys to Sue's car. "The other guys are in the woods with Jacob, Dominic too"  
>"Dom is in human form?" Embry was confused and Leah shrugged.<p>

"Guess it's some kinda strategic meeting with all the 'big thinkers' of our pack"

They both paused and laughed at that notion, Charles forgetting his annoyance with his uncle and managing a snicker.

"Goodnight, Clearwater" Embry waved, his mood strangely a little uplifted at seeing the littlest Erikson comically holding up her nose. Annabelle was trying to negotiate going with _anyone _but him but he ignored her and strapped her seatbelt on.

He knew she was afraid of him and he didn't really mind; he didn't like snobbish rich girls at all.

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**Authors Note:**

**Once again, leave your likes and thoughts in a review! Hearing from you really helps!**

**Xx**

**KKR**


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